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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE STORY OF POMONA 
COLLEGE 



THE 

STORY OF POMONA 

COLLEGE 

BY 
CHARLES BURT SUMNER 




THE PILGRIM PRESS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



\>^ 




& 

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Copyright, 1914 
by LUTHER H. CARY 



THE PILGRIM PRESS 
BOSTON 

I 12 1915 

©CLA393232 



TO THOSE 

WHO HAVE BUILDED THEIR LIVES 

INTO THE 

Foundations of Pomona 

this story is 

dedicated 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

Preface 

I Beginnings 

II Organization 

III Early Favoring Conditions . 

IV Pomona Ideals .... 
V The First Trustees 

VI The College Site .... 

VII Preparatory Work 

VIII Music and Art .... 

IX Claremont 

X President Baldwin's Administration 

XI The Earlier Professors 

XII The College Campus . 

XIII Christian Life at Pomona . 

XIV President Ferguson's Administration 
XV Athletics ..... 

XVI Working Halls . . . 

XVII President Gates' Administration 

XVIII Dormitories 

XIX The Library and the Museum . 

XX The College Commons and Inn . 

XXI Additional Trustees 

XXII Additional Professors . 

XXIII Dedication Day .... 



PAGE 

I 

1 

16 

26 

39 

52 

72 

86 

103 

116 

128 

152 

174 

187 

203 

218 

231 

247 

269 

282 

297 

306 

320 

334 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXIV Pomona Organizations 343 

XXV Pomona Publications 355 

XXVI Financial Helpers 367 

XXVII Crises and Campaigns ..... 384 

XXVIII President Blaisdell's Administration . 400 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Mary L. Sumner Hall 



The College "P" on the Mountain . . . . 

The Original Home of Pomona College in Pomona 

President Cyrus Grandison Baldwin 

North prom the Library Steps 

Greek Theater .... 

President Franklin La Du Ferguson 

William Renwick Gymnasium 

Cyrus W. Holmes^, Jr., Hall . 

Frank P. Brackett Observatory . 

President George Augustus Gates 

A. K. Smiley Hall .... 

Andrew Carnegie Library 

D. K. Pearsons Hall op Science . 

President James Arnold Blaisdell 

The Pageant 



Frontispiece "^ 

facing 
page 
. 39^ 



75-' 
128 
150'^ 
183- 
206 
224 "" 
232-^^ 
245 
260^ 
280-" 
345-^ 
380-" 
400 
414- 



PEEFACE 

Eepeatedly in the past few years I have been 
urged by close friends of the College to write its 
history. The argument has been: **You have had 
peculiar opportunities from the beginning of 
knowing intimately both its external and internal 
affairs. Its location at Pomona was first suggested 
and practically assured by you. You assisted in 
its organization. During the first three years, 
before the coming of a president, throughout 
three administrations and so far in the fourth, as 
an officer on the ground, you have been closely 
concerned with its policies and its business. For 
seven years you were on both faculty and Board 
of Trustees. You must be familiar with facts 
and experiences, eddies, if not flood-tides and ebb- 
tides, unknown to any one else now living, with- 
out which the stream of its history cannot be 
accurately traced. Besides, you have your own 
viewpoint. You alone can speak from it. Others 
must speak from a different angle. The friends 
of Pomona have a claim on you. Christian educa- 
tion has a claim on you. The obligation is imme- 
diate. Delay has ceased to be a virtue. Several 
of the founders have passed away. Only three of 
the original members are stiU on the Board of 
Trustees* Even now, from lack of sources of corr 

1^:1 



PREFACE 

rect information, mistakes conveying wrong im- 
pressions get into publications which should be 
authoritative. ' ' 

Commanding responsibilities left me no time 
even to consider this obligation. At length a se- 
rious illness, some time after the period of 
man's activities is supposed to be past, led to 
more leisure. The approach of the twenty-fifth 
anniversary of the founding of the College, too, 
gave occasion for thought. 

Looking the field over carefully, I could see no 
likelihood that for a long time to come any one 
else at all familiar with College matters would 
have the leisure and be in circumstances to justify 
his undertaking this work. It meant a year or 
more of time to do it at all adequately, and con- 
siderable expense, with slow and small return. It 
was a labor of love. With others, I had fondly 
hoped that Professor Brackett would be our first 
historian. But work is particularly crowding 
him, and he is so essential to the college activities 
that it would probably be several years, all other 
things being favorable, before he could possibly 
undertake the task. 

Hence I have been led to write from the obser- 
vations and the experiences at my command, and 
draw out as best I could the purposes and spirit 
of the events in connection with the College, trust- 
ing that one or more besides myself may sooner 
or later write the history from a different view- 



PEEFACE 

point, and that by and by some master band will 
collect and arrange the data, pass final judgment, 
and draw out the philosophy, as we who have had 
an active part in the events narrated could not 
be expected to do. 

Such as it is, I have greatly enjoyed the work, 
and have found very cordial and hearty coopera- 
tion in it. I am indebted to both Dean Norton 
and Professor Brackett, among many others, for 
corrections and suggestions, and to Miss Grace 
Thomas, not only for much of the hand work, but 
for helping me to edit the copy. More especially 
am I indebted to my son. Dr. George Stedman 
Sumner, for suggestions of a broader and more 
general character, as well as for something of 
detail. 

In spite of the utmost endeavors of the most 
conscientious writers to avoid all prejudice and 
bias and unconsidered judgments, it is impossible 
to narrate events accurately without some per- 
sonal coloring. Whatever coloring of that sort 
there may be here is my own, and mine alone is 
the responsibility for it. 



[ xiii ] 



CHAPTEE I 

BEGINNINGS 

The first person known to have clierislied the 
idea of a college in Southern California was Mr. 
Myron H. Crafts, A native of Whately, Massa- 
chusetts, and a descendant in direct line of one 
who came to this country in the Mayflower, Mr. 
Crafts was an active, virile and most interesting 
character. At the age of thirteen he left school, 
and, pushing out for himself, in a few years built 
up a prosperous business in the City of New 
York. Induced to return to his native state for 
business reasons, he remained for some years at 
Enfield. Here he was married. Eeturning again 
to New York, he found time to take an active part 
in establishing the Five Points Mission. His 
spirit of enterprise at length took him west, and 
in Jackson, Michigan, his store was thrice burned 
^^ because he was an abolitionist.*'* At Dimon- 
dale, where next he was in business, his wife died. 
Eemoving to Lansing, he entered the banking 
business, and after a year or two was called to 
Detroit as cashier of a bank. Prompted by the 

* It is an interesting fact that, notwithstanding this experience, 
a few years later a Sunday school class which he had taught in 
Jackson sent a silver communion service to the church he was 
trying to establish in San Bernardino. 

[1] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

same spirit of enterprise that brought him west, a 
true pioneer, he went to this remote region and 
invested in the Altoona Eanch, afterwards known 
as Grafton. This ranch, located to the east of 
San Bernardino, near and in the foothills, con- 
tained four hundred and fifty acres, was well wa- 
tered and very fruitful. At once a pronounced 
friend of the Indians who remained in this vicin- 
ity, he employed a large number of them on his 
ranch. 

Mr. Crafts, among his many public duties, was 
associated with Professor and Mrs. Ellison Rob- 
bins in educational matters. After the death of 
Professor Eobbins he married Mrs. Eobbins, who 
had come to California with her husband in 1854. 
Mrs. Crafts was a bright, efficient woman, a 
teacher before and after her first marriage, and 
had a school for Indians in their home at Crafton. 

Alike in tastes, in ideals and in fundamental 
purposes, Mr. and Mrs. Crafts were well mated. 
Both came into this section not primarily to make 
money, but to make effective lives and to help 
build up Christian civilization. Their home was 
attractive and very hospitable. In response to 
urgent entreaties this home became a sanatorium, 
where Helen Hunt Jackson stayed two successive 
seasons and where many another interesting per- 
sonage, from this State and from the far East, 
found a favorite resort. One of Mr. Crafts' last 
acts was to entertain the Congregational Asso- 

[2] 



BEGINNINGS 

elation at his home. Mr. and Mrs. Crafts were 
ardent workers in Sunday school and church. 
Through their labors a Congregational church 
was organized in San Bernardino in 1866. For 
some years this church worshiped in a hall 
owned by Mr. Crafts; in 1875 it erected the sec- 
ond Protestant church building in Southern Cali- 
fornia, on lots given by him. 

Mrs. Crafts, by reason of training, and long ex- 
perience in teaching the higher branches, and Mr. 
Crafts, from strong New England predilections, 
were interested in higher education. They re- 
garded this as one of the most efficient agencies 
in attaining the kind of civilization they were 
striving for. Good advocates, in private and in 
public, they kept these ideals before the commu- 
nity and before the churches. "When a district 
Congregational Association was formed they se- 
cured a provision in the constitution for an Edu- 
cation Committee, and the passing of a resolution 
^ booking toward the establishment of a Christian 
Academy. ' ' 

The ministry of the new church was more or 
less temporary for a few years, but in 1875 Eev. 
and Mrs. J. T. Ford came from the East to take 
up the pastoral work. Here were congenial com- 
panions, and just the sort of helpers needed. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Ford were born and bred in 
New England and thoroughly wedded to New 
England ideas. The enthusiasm of Mr. and Mrs. 

[3] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Crafts was contagious, and very soon the new 
pastor and his wife were as ardent advocates of 
higher education in Southern California as they. 
Together they labored for years before the time 
seemed ripe to push their project. The field was 
a hard one. The strong Mormon influence that 
had prevailed in this region for several years had 
not been helpful toward the propagation of New 
England ideas of religion or education. But set- 
tlers of a better sort came, gradually increasing 
the number of churches, until in 1883 it was 
deemed wise to propose in the Association the 
election of a large, strong, representative Educa- 
tion Committee from the various churches, and 
to authorize it to * ^ establish a Christian Academy 
or College." By unanimous vote such a commit- 
tee of seven members was chosen. The Commit- 
tee was made permanent, that it might be able to 
form large and adequate plans, with time to exe- 
cute them. 

This action was clearly an advance on the part 
of the churches towards the ideal of Mr. Crafts 
and Mr. Ford, in that the possibility of a college 
was recognized, in place of the academy first 
called for. 

During the next two years the growth was more 
rapid, and new churches multiplied rapidly. At 
the end of that time the Education Committee re- 
ported to the Association their purpose **to es- 
tablish a college of the New England type. " This 

[4] 



BEGINNINGS 

declaration was received with enthusiasm. Evi- 
dently the churches as well as the Committee had 
progressed beyond the thought of an academy or 
one of those low-grade, half-fledged institutions 
with the name '^college/' so common in pioneer 
communities, and felt that they must have a 
college of recognized character. The Commit- 
tee's way of putting their purpose is suggestive. 
Here they were, diagonally across the Continent 
three thousand miles from New England, and yet 
they naturally referred to its institutions as well 
understood for their standards and their work; 
and they made no mistake. Their reference was 
understood and approved. 

The year following this report of progress by 
the Education Committee was the famous year of 
1886-87, referred to often as the ^'boom days" of 
Southern California. It was a most interesting 
period of its history. Particularly the winter of 
that year was a season of phenomenal activity. 
People came flocking into this region from every 
direction. Hotels were full and running over. 
Private houses were full. Crowds were on the 
streets of the cities and on the trains, and all 
manifested great interest in local movements. 
A multitude of men and many women were in the 
real estate business. Lands, especially city lots, 
were in demand at private sale and at auction. 
An auction of city lots was a great affair, often 
drawing together thousands of people, many of 

[5] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

them eager to invest. New enterprises were 
springing up like mushrooms in a night. People 
entered into these undertakings, lent their names 
and invested their money in a strangely thought- 
less and reckless way. The speculative spirit pre- 
vailed to a degree almost beyond belief to one who 
had not personally witnessed similar movements 
in the Middle West, as in St. Paul and Minneap- 
olis, Chicago and Kansas City. Indeed Southern 
California far outran the experiences of those 
cities. Men very generally at that time thought 
and planned with reference to the future of this 
section as if the future in its majesty were al- 
ready realized. Hesitancy, question, doubt of 
such realization, were almost unknown. To a new- 
comer the largeness of the plans and enterprises 
conceived and entered upon was as surprising as 
their number and their character. 

In nothing was this expansiveness of thought 
and action more noticeable than in religious and 
educational concerns. Churches were springing 
up in a day — often one, two, or three — ^where a 
settlement had hardly begun. In fact, sites given 
for churches to the different denominations were 
inducements to purchase property. One denomi- 
nation after another talked of an academy or col- 
lege. Some aspired to a university with allied 
schools. Each sect was anxious to have its own 
educational institution. The idea of uniting with 
other sects in higher education in such a field as 

[6] 



BEGINNINGS 

Southern California met with little toleration. 
Often an essential part of the larger land 
schemes was a plan for an educational institution. 
It was surprising to see how popular the idea of 
higher education had become. Nothing drew at- 
tention and fed the flames of excitement like the 
prospect of a college or a university. The promi- 
nence of this consideration so early in local his- 
tory reminded one of the early days of New 
England, where in less than a score of years after 
the landing of the Mayflower, Harvard College 
had its beginning. Then one 's mind ran along the 
pages of history to Yale, Dartmouth, Williams, 
Oberlin, Beloit, Drury, Carleton, Yankton, Forest 
Grove and Whitman — the whole line of Congrega- 
tional colleges, not to speak of others, extending 
across the Continent. Evidently the same spirit 
pervaded this new section of the country so cos- 
mopolitan in its population. 

The settlers, so few at first, if not already fa- 
miliar with the New England type of Christian 
education, were acquainted with it as their num- 
bers grew. The increase of the early eighties was 
more and more rapid, until with the great inrush 
of people in 1886-87 the churches were multiplied 
in numbers, grew in importance, and were ready 
to assert their strength. The future prosperity 
of Southern California was felt to be assured. 
Every one was full of hope and expectation. With 
the multitude, the churches began to live in the fu- 

[7] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ture. The nucleus had been so thoroughly indoc- 
trinated with the idea of Christian education, and 
so many of the newcomers were the product of 
Christian education, that all hailed with gladness 
the reported progress of the Education Commit- 
tee. They were ready for action. Every com- 
munity was keenly alive to the situation. The 
College was an immediate necessity, a matter of 
course. ** Where shall it be located"?" was the 
question on many lips. It must be accessible to all. 
Selfish considerations must not prevail. It must 
have spacious grounds, and much money would 
be needed to build, equip and maintain it. Ideals 
were high. The location would have a commer- 
cial as well as a moral value. 

The first proposition which came to the Educa- 
tion Committee seemed on its face attractive. It 
was from the Land Company of Beaumont, a 
village on the Southern Pacific Railroad near the 
edge of what was then called *^the desert." By 
invitation a visit was made by the Committee to 
Beaumont, to examine the property and weigh 
the proposition. Messrs. Ford, Hunt, "Wells and 
Beattie of the Committee, and Mr. Sumner by 
special invitation, under the guidance of Mr. A. 
H. Judson, representing the Land Company, 
spent a day and night on the ground. This was 
March 31, 1887. It was the height of the season 
in this region. Everything in the realm of nature 
vas at its best. Much had been done in the way 

[8] 



BEGINNINGS 

of development and something in tlie way of beau- 
tifying Beaumont. All were delighted with the 
appearance and the possibilities of the place. 

The hotel was new, comfortable and well kept. 
The evening was spent around an open fire in dis- 
cussing college matters, past, present and future. 
College questions were by no means new to the 
little company. To one who had just come to this 
section the most vivid impression now remaining 
is the prevailing optimism, the supreme confi- 
dence and even enthusiasm with which all looked 
forward to the undertaking of building a college. 
Another memory is of the recognition of the di- 
vine hand in the college enterprise, and with it a 
sublime idealism. A great future was foreshad- 
owed. There was no trace of anxiety. The way 
was clear, the time ripe, the forces ready, the out- 
come as certain as the laws of nature. The ques- 
tion came surging back again and again to that 
newcomer, what did this mean? These men had 
long had this matter in mind; they knew all the 
conditions. "Whence this confidence? "Was it the 
inspiration of an all-wise Providence, or was it 
simply one phase of the prevailing optimism in 
Southern California? 

It was well that the future was hidden in the 
glamor of the hour. "Who shall say that these 
men could have borne the test had all the future 
been revealed to them? On the other hand, their 
idealism fell far short of what the present dis- 

[9] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

closes. They reasoned from the history of other 
like colleges. Could they have looked beyond the 
present on the larger success in store, the inter- 
vening burdens would have seemed of little 
moment. 

The next morning the following vote was 
passed: ** Whereas, the founding of a college of 
the New England type in Southern California is 
desirable; and Whereas Beaumont offers great 
climatic advantages, with the prospect of secur- 
ing donations of grounds for campus, and lands 
estimated to yield two hundred thousand dollars ; 
therefore, Resolved ; That the committee view the 
location of a college at this point with favor, and 
will so report to the Association in May. Also 
Resolved: That if certain lands are secured, ful- 
filling the above expectations, we are heartily in 
favor of locating the college at this point, and will 
contract for the same prior to the meeting of the 
Association if necessary.'' 

A week after the visit to Beaumont the Com- 
mittee was invited to examine a proposition from 
Lugonia, in what is now a part of Redlands. 
Again by request Mr. Sumner acted with the 
Committee. The site was commanding and at- 
tractive, the very spot Mr. Sumner, spending a 
vacation in California, had visited three years 
before under Mr. Ford's guidance as that se- 
lected by Deacon Crafts and Mr. Ford for the Col- 
lege. This offer, too, included with the campus a 

[ 10 ] 



BEGINNINGS 

liberal subscription in land and money, in value 
estimated at one hundred and eighty thousand 
dollars. 

The prospect of a choice between two such 
propositions was most encouraging. And yet to 
some of those inspecting them, neither of the two 
was ideal. The questions were asked whether it 
would not be possible to secure a place more eas- 
ily accessible to all Southern California, and 
whether a site might not be found in a better all- 
the-year-round climate. At that time the means 
of communication was very different from what it 
is today, and the possibilities of **the desert'^ had 
not yet been brought to light. Imperial County, 
already so rich and prosperous, had not found a 
place even in the imagination. 

Just these objections, at all events, led to hon- 
est efforts to find another location. As usual, 
searching was rewarded by finding — this time an 
ideal site. It was on a mesa near the foothills 
five miles north of Pomona, and had just come 
into the hands of Mr. H. A. Palmer, one of the 
most active supporters of the movement for a 
Congregational church at Pomona. The land was 
supposed to be very valuable. Parties were seek- 
ing it for a tourist hotel. An appeal was made 
to Mr. Palmer, and not in vain. The College 
would help the Church, and the Church would 
help the College. Mr. Palmer gave eighty acres. 
It was Saturday evening when he put pen to pa- 

[ 11 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

per. That same night the Misses Wheeler, two 
ladies from Boston who were spending the win- 
ter in Pomona, added forty acres adjoining Mr. 
Palmer's eighty, and other persons gave one 
thousand dollars in money. With this start the 
matter was put before the congregation the next 
morning at the close of the church service, and 
was received kindly and heartily. The result was 
a subscription in land and money from Pomona 
and vicinity estimated to yield one hundred and 
sixty thousand dollars. 

At the May meeting of the District Association 
all the churches of like faith united to form the 
General Association of Congregational Churches 
of Southern California. This General Associa- 
tion appointed the Education Committee of the 
District Association as its Education Committee, 
adding five new members and thus making a 
strong committee of twelve. Full power was 
given this Committee to act on any and all matters 
pertaining to the location and organization of a 
college, with instructions to decide on the location 
within thirty days. Such limitation in so weighty 
a matter shows clearly the mercurial temper of 
the popular mind in real estate matters. The 
Beaumont proposition had already been with- 
drawn, and the Lugonia proposition was with- 
drawn before the final action of the Committee. 
An offer from Pasadena and one from Kiver- 
side were in the air, and their presentation 

[12] 



BEGINNINGS 

was expected, but they did not mature. Such 
matters could not wait. Quick action was a 
necessity. 

A meeting of the enlarged committee was called 
for May 18 at The First Congregational Church, 
Los Angeles. The burning of a neighboring build- 
ing compelled adjournment, and the meeting was 
held the next morning at ten o'clock. All the 
members were present except Messrs. Weitzel 
and Mack: namely, Messrs. Beattie, Ford, Hunt, 
Mills, Murphy, Oakley, Park, Sheldon, Smith and 
Wells. After full and free discussion, informal 
action was taken on the site to be accepted. A 
very large majority voted for the site near Po- 
mona. This informal action was then made for- 
mal by a unanimous vote. The approval was 
contingent on a guaranteed water supply, which 
was afforded later by Mr. Palmer. The Commit- 
tee then elected nine trustees in the following or- 
der : Eev. James T. Ford of San Bernardino, Mr. 
Henry K. W. Bent of Pasadena, Andrew J. Wells 
of Long Beach, Mr. Henry A. Palmer of Oakland, 
Eev. Charles B. Sumner of Pomona, Eev. Charles 
B. Sheldon of Pomona, Mr. Seth Eichards of 
Boston, Massachusetts, Eev. James H. Harwood, 
D.D., of San Diego, and Mr. Nathan W. Blan- 
chard of Santa Paula. 

The decision as to the number which was to 
constitute the Board of Trustees, and the election 
of others if any others were required, were left 

[13;] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

to the nine trustees chosen. It was further voted 
as the sense of the Committee **that a majority 
of the Board of Trustees should always be 
members of Congregational churches, and that 
this provision should be put in the deed of 
conveyance." The Committee then adjourned 
sine die. 

Thus the desire amongst Congregationalists to 
have an institution of higher education in South- 
ern California had grown and developed into a 
purpose to build a college of the New England 
type, a purpose so strong that it commanded the 
supreme attention and most considerate action 
of their assembled churches in the very first, and 
so peculiarly important, meeting of their General 
Association. The Association, with a manifest ap- 
preciation of the real nature of their action and 
in full assurance of the future, prepared the way 
for the establishment of such a college by the se- 
lection of a location, by setting apart a self -per- 
petuating body of representative men entrusted 
with its organization and destiny, and still fur- 
ther by putting into their hands funds deemed 
sufficient to start the enterprise on a scale com- 
mensurate with the ideals of these historic 
churches. 

Surely this was the worthy action of no mean 
body, and an action of no mean significance. It 
was nothing less than the first official act in the 
launching of Pomona College, which for twenty- 

[14] 



BEGINNINGS 

^ve years already, alike in the home land and 
across Continent and oceans, in far distant non- 
Christian lands, has been offering her * ' tribute to 
Christian civilization. ' ' 



[15] 



CHAPTEE II 

OEGANIZATION 

It would be difficult to portray in too glowing 
colors the confident expectations, widely prev- 
alent in this section at the time the College was 
located, as to the future of Southern California. 
A dense population was speedily to have filled 
these valleys and mounted upon these hillsides; 
institutions were to have multiplied in number 
and developed in character with a rapidity far 
beyond belief even at the present day; this little 
section of territory was to have become in a few 
years a potent factor in our own country and in 
the Far East. 

Equally difficult would it be to exaggerate the 
prevailing change in conditions that took place, 
beginning but a few months after the events nar- 
rated at the close of the previous chapter. The 
visitors disappeared and none came to take their 
places ; artisans in great numbers were returning 
to the East; many enterprises were abandoned; 
financial failures were common; mortgages were 
prevalent; nearly every one was depressed in 
spirits ; croakers were on every hand. It was hard 
to get a hearing for any enterprise, however .it^ood 
and great, whether it were in distress or in a 

[16] 



ORGANIZATION 

hopeful condition. People were deaf to appeals, 
for the most part with good reason, for money in 
circulation was little seen. 

Artists could hardly paint the atmosphere too 
gray or the surroundings too forbidding, into 
which the college enterprise, just set forth with 
such bright prosx)ects, was doomed to enter. 
Even before the organization was completed 
threatening signs were in evidence. It required 
all the courage and impetus gained from earlier 
success to stem the current and push on toward 
the goal. When troubles began to thicken beyond 
endurance, it happened, as has frequently been 
the case in Pomona's history, that a kind Prov- 
idence at the opportune moment interposed in her 
behalf. 

Great confidence was reposed in the Education 
Committee of the General Association. Every 
one felt that these men would be free from prej- 
udice and selfish consideration and that their ac- 
tion would be far-reaching, conservative and 
wise. The churches were prepared to receive with 
favor their decision and the plans they should 
outline. The location determined upon was as- 
suredly the best available, and was accepted as 
ideal. The nine trustees, appointed from homes 
well scattered over the Southland, were of recog- 
nized fitness and known to be heartily committed 
to the enterprise. Not a word of grumbling was 
heard; no petty jealousy was manifest; no heart- 

[17] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

burnings were discovered. There was a great 
and wide-spread sense of relief and supreme sat- 
isfaction that the enterprise, actually started on 
so broad a basis, was entrusted to such admirable 
managers. 

The full importance of this general confidence 
could hardly have been understood at the time. 
Experience has revealed the fact that the secur- 
ing and the maintaining of confidence in the ad- 
ministration of its affairs, from the beginning 
unto the present day, have been prominent fac- 
tors in the success of the College. The effect is 
seen not only as objective, in winning approval 
more and more widely and in retaining the loy- 
alty of our constituency, but also as subjective, 
in cheering, sustaining and strengthening the 
Board of Trustees and the Faculty in days of 
trial and distress. 

With every one in a waiting and expectant at- 
titude, few days could be allowed to pass after 
the adjournment of the Education Committee be- 
fore the appointees met to carry forward the or- 
ganization. At successive meetings the number 
of the trustees was fixed at fifteen, and the fol- 
lowing men were elected to fill out the quota: 
Judge Anson Brunson of Los Angeles, Rev. T. C. 
Hunt of Riverside, Rev. D. D. Hill of Pasadena, 
Mr. George W. Marston of San Diego, Mr. El- 
wood Cooper of Santa Barbara and Rev. J. K. 
McLean, D.D., of Oakland. The name of the Col- 

[18] 



ORGANIZATION 

lege was repeatedly discussed, and votes were 
taken without agreement. Finally ** Piedmont, ' ' 
the name given to the village to be built up about 
the College, was adopted. This was later changed 
to *^ Pomona,'' * temporarily, " as a concession 
to the city of Pomona, which had secured the 
change of name of the Santa Fe station between 
Piedmont and Pomona to ** North Pomona," in 
order to link the College more closely to that city. 
Finally, Articles of Incorporation, endorsed by 
Judge Brunson, were adopted and ordered filed. 
These Articles of Incorporation gave the name, 
*'The Pomona College"; the purpose, to build 
and maintain a college and a preparatory school 
or schools, distinctively Christian but not secta- 
rian, to be open to both sexes ; the location of the 
College, near North Pomona; the location of the 
preparatory school or schools, wherever desirable 
within the limits of the State ; the number of trus- 
tees, fifteen, a majority of whom must be mem- 
bers of Congregational churches. Then follow 
the names of the Trustees, and the names of some 
of the subscribers to the funds of the College, 
with the amounts subscribed. 

When the incorporation papers were returned, 
a meeting of the Board of Trustees was called, 
as required by law, for the adoption of by-laws. 
This meeting was held October 6, 1887, at the 
temporary home of Mr. C. B. Sumner, a house 
of five rooms situated on the west side of San 

[19] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Antonio Avenue, just north of the Santa Fe rail- 
road. There were present Messrs. Blanchard, 
Ford, Hill, Hunt, Marston, Palmer, Sheldon, 
Sumner and Wells. The Committee on By-laws, 
Messrs. Hill, Palmer and Sumner, reported by- 
laws copied with modifications from those of a 
similar college in the Middle West. Each article 
was taken up and discussed. These discussions 
were a revelation of the personality of the mem- 
bers of the Board of Trustees. They proved 
themselves to be earnest, thoughtful men, not 
without experience in educational matters, intent 
on what they felt to be a great work. At times 
the room was pervaded by a sense of the gravity 
and sacredness of the task which was little short 
of oppressive. The discussion often turned upon 
different theories and fundamental principles of 
education, developing a wide range of thought 
and familiarity with these high themes. The at- 
tention of the Trustees was keen and absorbing. 
All day long and far into the night the discussion 
continued without flagging of interest. Article 
after article was adopted, and finally the by-laws 
as a whole were approved. When this work was 
finished, the formal organization of the Board 
was effected by the election of Mr. H. A. Palmer 
as President of the Corporation, Mr. Nathan W. 
Blanchard as Vice President, Mr. C. B. Sheldon 
as Treasurer, Mr. C. B. Sumner as Secretary, 
and Messrs, Palmer, Sheldon, Bent, Ford and 

[-20] 



OEGANIZATION 

Sumner as Executive Committee. On the ad- 
journment of the meeting one of the Trustees 
went home with Mr. Palmer, two accepted a prof- 
fered room at a neighbor's home, and the good 
cheer with which the rest adapted tliemselves to 
cramped quarters for the night proved them true 
pioneers, ready to accept thankfully the dictates 
of necessity. 

Pomona College was incorporated under the 
general laws of California for ^^corporations 
without profit.'' The president of the corpora- 
tion must be a member of the Board of Trustees 
and be elected to that office annually. If the 
president of the faculty, the college president, is 
not a member of the Board of Trustees, there 
must be two presidents or heads, one of the cor- 
poration and one of the College. President Bald- 
win, at his own request, was not made a member 
of the Board of Trustees; neither was President 
Blaisdell until the adoption of a new code of by- 
laws, in 1913, in accordance with which he was 
elected a member of the Board. Presidents Fer- 
guson and Gates were severally made trustees 
and presidents of the corporation. 

There have been some changes in both the cor- 
porate law and the by-laws. In 1898 the word 
<<The" was dropped from the name in the Arti- 
cles of Incorporation, leaving the name simply 
^'Pomona College." The statement as to the lo- 
cation of the college was changed from ^'near 

[21] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

North Pomona*^ to * * Claremont ' * ; reference to 
the church membership of the trustees was omit- 
ted. It should be remembered that this last 
change, which did away with denominationalism 
as a requirement, was made long before the Car- 
negie Foundation for pensioning teachers, which 
by its provisions has become an inducement to 
eliminate sectarian requirements, was under con- 
sideration. It indicated a change of sentiment 
in the denomination, as well as on the part of the 
Trustees. In 1902, under President Gates' ad- 
ministration, the Board emphasized this change 
by unanimous action after full discussion. That 
action also was not prompted by the Carnegie 
Foundation, which came later. Clearly, in view 
of the number of denominational colleges in 
Southern California, Pomona early showed a dis- 
position to remove barriers to greater unity of 
effort. 

Again, in 1907, the Articles of Incorporation 
were changed by further increasing the number 
of trustees to twenty. A wider scope was also 
given to the purposes of the College, in case need 
should arise for such power. 

An attempt to revise the by-laws was made in 
1897, and continued through President Fergu- 
son's administration, but the process was not 
completed until the beginning of President Gates ' 
administration. Once more, in 1913, the by- 
laws were revised and printed. The revision, 

[22] 



OEGANIZATION 

however, was rather for the sake of adapting 
them to altered conditions than the purpose of 
making any radical change in the government of 
the College. 

Since the College had no president for the first 
two years of its existence, and since President 
Baldwin for the next seven years strongly fa- 
vored that type, the methods of what is termed 
the ^*f acuity college'' became very fully crystal- 
lized. And yet under President Baldwin's ad- 
ministration the Faculty's protest to having a 
member of the faculty on the Board of Trustees 
was in principle accepted by the trustees, while 
abiding by their own action in what they termed 
an exceptional case. 

The form of Pomona's government has come 
to be in theory and practice very much like that 
of Yale College as stated and advocated by Pres- 
ident Woolsey in his address at the inauguration 
of President Porter. Quoting his language: 
*^The board, in whose hands the ultimate decision 
rests, have ever felt that their interference with- 
out the request of the officers of instruction, in 
the study and order of the institution, would be 
uncalled for and unwise; that independent, un- 
solicited action on their part would amount to 
censure of the faculties and would lead to dis- 
cord and confusion. With scarcely an exception, 
no law has been passed, no officer appointed, un- 
less after full consultation and exchange of views 

[23] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

between the boards of control and instruction. 
And hence, if there are defects in our system, the 
faculties are, as they ought to be, mainly respon- 
sible; if an inefficient or unfaithful officer comes 
into a chair of instruction, the faculties who know 
him best, and not the corporation, are to bear 
whatever censure is justly due. I hope that this 
may always continue. I would not indeed have 
the corporation a mere organ to carry into effect 
the will of their subordinate officers; I would 
have them think and judge for themselves, have 
their ears open to all complaints against the sys- 
tem of teaching and governing, and see that the 
instructions are faithfully and successfully given ; 
but to interfere, ^nisi dignus vindice nodus/ 
would be in the highest degree unwise; it would 
be to reduce the faculties to the condition of mere 
agents, and to drive away the best officers from 
the institution.^' 

The name of the College has always been a 
source of regret to many of her best friends. It 
seems to have been unfortunate that the first 
name was changed, even, as was intended, *^ tem- 
porarily." A further change has been discussed, 
sometimes with no little feeling. The confusion 
caused by applying the name of an adjacent city 
to an educational institution located in a city hav- 
ing a different name is generally recognized, and 
is likely never to become less infelicitous as 
Claremont grows in importance. Then, too, peo- 

[24] 



ORGANIZATION 

pie familiar with farmers' granges in the East 
assume that Pomona is an agricultural institu- 
tion. Nevertheless, with all the discussion, no 
name has been brought into prominence that ap- 
peals strongly enough to the alumni and other 
friends of the College to secure general endorse- 
ment. Meantime '^Pomona," by familiarity and 
experience, by song and story, has been wrought 
into mind and heart until it has become a part of 
too many lives ever to be severed from the Col- 
lege without deep and abiding regrets and real 
cankerous wounds, unless some very great boon 
comes to the College which shall suJSice as a solace 
for these feelings and a balm for these wounds. 



25] 



CHAPTER III 

EAELY FAVOEING CONDITIONS 
The conditions pertaining to all Christian col- 
leges created and sustained by general benevo- 
lence, in a new country, must needs be in general 
much the same. In some ways, however, the his- 
tory of Pomona has been unique. Most assur- 
edly its success has been exceptional. It is quite 
necessary, therefore, to a clear understanding of 
this history to portray the conditions which have 
contributed peculiarly to its advantage. 

The attention is directed first to the great tidal 
wave of interest in higher education which has 
swept over the country during the last fifty years. 
This is manifest in the high school systems which 
have sprung up in some form in every State of 
the Union; in the rise of state universities and 
normal and agricultural schools almost or quite 
as universally; in the princely gifts bestowed on 
educational institutions ; and in the rapid increase 
in the number of college and university students. 
For illustration, Harvard and Yale Colleges, 
which were fifty years ago two hundred and one 
hundred and fifty years old respectively, were re- 
garded as the great colleges of the country. 
Both were plain, humble institutions, with inex- 

[26] 



EAELY FAVORING CONDITIONS 

pensive buildings, few teachers, and courses of 
study limited in number ; both had little or no en- 
dowment, hardly aspired to become universities 
and rarely, if ever, graduated more than a hun- 
dred at commencement. Today how different! 
Both are full-fledged universities having a large 
number of most beautiful and costly buildings, 
counting teachers by the hundred, giving a very 
large number of courses of study, and sending out 
many hundreds of graduates each year. Their 
endowments are reckoned in tens of millions. 
And yet these are now only two out of a score or 
more of universities, state and private, that are 
doing the same type of work, a number of them 
graduating annually more students than either of 
these. 

This change is out of all proportion to the in- 
crease in population. President Oilman says of 
this movement : ^ ^ Few persons will deny the as- 
sertion that the most remarkable changes in the 
last half century are due to the growth of science 
and the spread of the scientific spirit.''* In an- 
other connections he adds : ^ ^ The efforts of schol- 
ars have been sustained by the munificence of 
donors, and more than one institution has an en- 
dowment larger than that of all the institutions 
that were in existence in 1850.'' 

Doubtless Pomona has been taken up and borne 
along on the crest of this great tidal wave. 

* The Launching of a University. Daniel Coit Gilman. 

[27] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

In the second place, the unparalleled growth 
of California, and especially of Southern Califor- 
nia, has been a factor in Pomona's progress. The 
increase in the population of the State of Cal- 
ifornia during the last census decade, 1900-1910, 
it is said, has never been equaled in so new a com- 
munity in the history of our country. It reached 
sixty and one-tenth per cent. Los Angeles 
County gained the most rapidly of any county in 
the State. The city of Los Angeles gained two 
hundred and eleven per cent. The southern coun- 
ties gained more than the northern counties. The 
experience of the previous decade was very sim- 
ilar, and that of the present decade so far is much 
the same. 

Evidently the College has in some measure kept 
pace with this marvelous growth. 

Again, the great distance from other colleges 
and universities of repute, perhaps two or even 
three thousand miles from the parent's Alma 
Mater, and five hundred miles from the two great 
universities of the State, has beyond a question 
kept many students in Southern California and 
centered attention in the home colleges. 

But when all else is said, it remains true alike 
to reason and to history that a college, at least in 
its early years, before its own alumni are its real 
supporters, depends chiefly on the character of its 
immediately surrounding population. It in this 
respect is like an orchard, which is primarily de- 

[28] 



EARLY FAVOEING CONDITIONS 

pendent on the soil in which it is planted. Water 
and fertilizer and cultivation may add greatly to 
its growth and productivity for a time, but the 
ultimate secret of success is in the home soil. 
How often we have heard representatives of insti- 
tutions of higher education from the newer States 
deplore the lack of appreciation of the privileges 
offered, and the long, slow process of educating 
the people who should form their constituency to 
such appreciation. In the days of the *^ College 
of California,'' afterwards the State University, 
a series of articles was written for the avowed 
*^ purpose of awakening an interest in higher ed- 
ucation''! One of these articles in the ** Paci- 
fic," a Christian newspaper published in San 
Francisco, reads in part : ^ ' The boys of the state 
are not awake to their opportunity. When it 
would be natural to find, according to eastern 
standards of judgment, ten of them fitting for col- 
lege, we hardly find one. The importance of a 
college education needs to be held up in every new 
state. Its acquisition should be made honorable. 
It is so in the most enlightened parts of our coun- 
try."* This was written before Southern Cal- 
ifornia had many settlers. 

At the time when the treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo, which gave California to the United 
States, was signed with Mexico (January 24, 
1848), there were few inhabitants in California 

* College of California. K^v. Samuel H. Wjlley, P.D. 

[29 } 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

save Indians. In 1769 the Spanish planted mis- 
sions at San Diego and Monterey, which, supple- 
mented later, were the chief centers of the small 
Spanish settlements, mostly near the coast. Ra- 
diating from these centers in various directions 
were the scattered ranches held through succes- 
sive generations under Spanish grants. In the 
later years there were one or two small stations 
or forts in the interior and a few Americans pas- 
tured their flocks and herds in the valleys or 
among the mountains. The products were com- 
paratively slight and the general business was of 
little moment. The forests, the agricultural sec- 
tions, particularly at the north, and San Fran- 
cisco Harbor, furnished the reasons for urging 
annexation. The wealth of treasure hidden in 
the mountains and streams, as well as the rich- 
ness of her arid soil at the south, was wholly 
unknown. ^^Nine days before the treaty was 
signed, known to very few and to neither of the 
representatives who signed the treaty, gold was 
discovered at Colomar, forty-five miles northeast 
of Sacramento in the foothills of the Sierras."* 
The very attempt to keep it secret served to mag- 
nify the story of the discovery. The result was 
electric and far-reaching. *^ Quickly as sail and 
■steam could bear the tidings to different, points 
of the compass, adventurers hastened from 
China, from the Sandwich Islands, from Aus- 

* ComtiiUtional ffistory of the ZJiiited. States. Vcxn Hoist. 



EARLY FAVORING CONDITIONS 

tralia, and from the Pacific Coast between Van- 
couver and Valparaiso, a stream of population, 
swollen beyond all precedent, drained the drift- 
ing elements from Europe to mingle in a current 
whose American element predominated.*^* 

Rhodes says of these adventurers, who num- 
bered over eighty thousand in one year: ^^ There 
were many thoroughly excellent men among 
the emigrants, but the percentage of unbri- 
dled adventurers of all nations was frightfully 
large. ' 'f 

To add to the complications, this mass of law- 
less humanity had come to a land almost literally 
without laws, and itself practically constituted 
the population. The Mexican authority had 
ceased, and it required time to make laws, as well 
as to provide for their execution by the new 
authority. Meanwhile every man was a law 
unto himself, giving free rein to the worst lusts 
and passions of humanity. The consequences 
were most disastrous in city, town and country — 
wherever there was anything to arouse the cupid- 
ity or lusts of men. The familiar story of the 
** Vigilance Committee" of San Francisco is an 
epitome of the desperate struggle which prevailed 
over the entire region where the adventurers 
roamed and settled. Happily there were enough 
of the better sort of citizens to secure a constitu- 

* History of the United States. Schouler. 
t History of the United States. Ehodes. 

[31] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

tion, adopt it, and frame laws with as little delay 
as possible. It required years, however, to bring 
into subjection to the demands of civilization 
these men and women who once had tasted the 
liberty of lawlessness. In time the law-abiding 
element, assisted by emigrants of a better sort, 
outnumbered and absorbed for the most part 
these undesirable citizens. Nevertheless the li- 
cense had time to crystallize into custom, if not 
law, and to mark distinctly if not to characterize 
many a community. 

The profitable gold-bearing regions were not 
supposed to reach below the Tehachepi. In fact, 
the Southland then presented few attractions to 
adventurers or settlers of any kind. It was 
thought to be given over to barren mountains 
and deserts, with some valleys productive for a 
few months, but dried up the greater part of the 
year. The possibilities of the soil were little 
understood. 

Nearly a generation passed away before the 
advantages of the South first received attention, 
and two generations before the desert began to 
reveal its riches. In 1880 the city of Los An- 
geles had only about eleven thousand inhabitants, 
most of whom spoke the Spanish language. The 
Congregationalists then had but five churches in 
this entire region — one each at Los Angeles, San 
Bernardino, Riverside, Santa Barbara and Lu- 
gonia. Now they have one hundred and thirty. 

[32] 



EAELY FAVORINa CONDITIONS 

And this denomination is by no means the most 
numerous. 

Immigration to this part of the State, as has 
been seen, about that time began to increase. 
Interest in Southern California, too, became 
widespread over the country, and reached into 
Canada and other British possessions. It 
brought few from foreign nations other than 
British subjects, and those who came were largely 
of the educated and thrifty sort. Among the 
hosts from various parts of the country many 
were sight-seers, a few of whom became settlers ; 
some were invalids, or came with invalids for 
health considerations, but among those seekers 
for health by far the greater part were looking 
for homes, lured by the climate and the soil. An 
unusual number of these would-be settlers had 
more or less of a bank account. 

Much money was invested, wisely and unwisely, 
in town lots and in innumerable schemes. A very 
large number invested in lands — five, ten, twenty 
acres — to be set out to orchards or devoted to 
other agricultural products, as sources of income. 
A number of families frequently came from the 
same region and formed little colonies. Friends 
followed and joined them, thus giving a distinct 
character to the settlements. In some cities or 
to^vns there might be several groups of settlers 
from the same or from different States. So large 
a number of these colonists were New England- 

[33] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ers by birth or descent, or at least in thouglit and 
feeling, as fairly to mark churches, communities 
and even cities. The numbers in these various 
colonies, their homogeneity and the community 
of interests have led from time to time to the 
formation of organizations in different parts of 
Southern California of the inhabitants who had 
come from the same region; sometimes a city or 
a county; oftener a State; rarely a still larger 
area. 

The extent of these organizations is surpris- 
ing. **The Federated States Home*' at present 
has an office in Los Angeles and a general secre- 
tary, who reports attendance on two hundred 
gatherings of these various organizations the 
past year. Every State in the Union is now rep- 
resented in the general organization. In one case, 
hardly exceptional, colonists from a county in 
Michigan have yearly gatherings of between 
sixty and seventy persons. The New England 
dinners at San Diego seat two or three hundred. 
At the last Iowa gathering the press reported 
thirty thousand present. The Iowa Association 
claims one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
members. Probably this is the largest, although 
there are several other large ones. Once or twice 
a year each organization has its own gathering 
in the form of a banquet or a basket picnic, with 
a regular program as well as general social en- 
joyment. These occasions tend to bind the mem- 

[34] 



EARLY FAVORING CONDITIONS 

bers closer together, to secure greater unity here 
at home and to increase the drawing power from 
the older to the newer State. 

One prominent feature of this new population 
is the number of college-bred men and women it 
embraces. One or two facts are suggestive on 
this point. A Yale graduate, going to and from 
his orchard seven miles distant, among ranches 
most of the way, counted in passing, not includ- 
ing local teachers, one graduate of Princeton, two 
of Yale, two of Amherst, one of Williams, one of 
AVisconsin University, and two of Pomona, all of 
whom had homes on these ranches. One only of 
the number was a woman. How many more 
women graduates might have been counted he did 
not know. There is abundant reason to believe 
that this case is not exceptional. The number of 
educated men is noticeable in all the fruit asso- 
ciations, farmers' and horticultural clubs, and 
the numerous college and university clubs. At 
one of the annual banquets of the Pomona Col- 
lege alumni, to which graduates of other colleges 
present at commencement were invited (as was 
common the first few years), it was found that 
forty-eight colleges and institutes were repre- 
sented. The evening before President BlaisdeU 
was inaugurated a banquet was given to him, to- 
gether with President Eaton of Beloit and Presi- 
dent Garfield of Williams, at the Claremont Inn. 
It was a pay banquet, for college graduates, and 

[35] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

there were few if any complimentary guests be- 
sides the three presidents. The alumni of the 
three institutions sent out their own invitations. 
Two hundred and fifty sat down at the tables. 
AVith a large number of smaller delegations, 
Yale, Mt. Holyoke and Oberlin were each repre- 
sented by from ten to twenty or more alumni, 
seated at the same table, while others represented 
Williams, as well as Beloit and Pomona. Sev- 
eral foreign countries were also represented. To 
communities having so many alumni, the college 
is as much a necessity as the home. 

Another characteristic of this constituency, 
already referred to but needing emphasis, is its 
interest in Christian education. These gradu- 
ates are for the most part from Christian institu- 
tions. They are in full sympathy with Christian 
education. This fact, realized in connection with 
a vision of the future of the Pacific Coast, with 
the great mass of humanity which, with its com- 
merce, is to pass back and forth through these 
gateways, gives an immensely added importance 
to a region so rich in promise of itself as South- 
ern California. Here is the constituency that is 
to become a world power in the interests of Chris- 
tian civilization. 

President Oilman early voiced these thoughts: 
^^The next twenty-five years will certainly show 
vast influences for good or evil over all eastern 
countries, proceeding from California. Unques- 

[36] 



EARLY FAVORING CONDITIONS 

tionably the national government of the future 
will send out as its representatives in Asia men 
who have dwelt on these shores. Unquestionably 
the minor offices of government will be filled with 
young men going out from this region. Your 
ships are to transport not only merchandise but 
ideas. Your influences of every sort are to be 
felt in these far distant countries, first in Hawaii, 
then in the Philippines, and afterwards in Japan 
and China. '^* 

Begotten by the Congregationalists, and the 
only college of that fellowship in the State, Po- 
mona naturally and historically should include in 
its constituency the Congregationalists of the 
whole of California. And in a general way it is 
so considered. But this relation is modified by 
the widely different conditions of early settle- 
ment; by the history of the College of California 
and its connection with the University of Cali- 
fornia, by the Congregational Theological Semi- 
nary connected with the University of California, 
and by distance in a State nine hundred miles 
long. 

The more immediate local constituency is found 
in Southern California. It never has been lim- 
ited to the Congregationalists, and is becoming 
less and less distinctively Congregational. A 
better constituency a college never had; and it is 
growing still better and more effective every 

* The Launching of a University. Daniel Coit Gilman. 

[37] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

year. It always lias been sympathetic, self-sac- 
rificing and loyal to a marked degree. Early in 
her history Pomona so endeared herself to the 
hearts of her friends as to dominate selfish con- 
siderations, whether pecuniary or sectarian. In 
the early and middle nineties, when mortgages 
were well-nigh universal in this part of the State 
and the most rigid economy was a necessity for 
all, Pomona's appeals met with heroic response. 
Prosperous days have developed generosity in 
full measure. Were present demands no greater 
than those made on like institutions fifty years 
ago, Pomona would be well provided for. In a 
new country, where everything must be new, and 
where rapid growth with high ideals brings all 
the needs at once, time is necessary to enable 
even the most loyal and prosperous constituency 
to meet the exacting demands of an up-to-date 
college. 



[38] 



CHAPTER IV 

POMONA IDEALS 

Two colleges are often spoken of as **just 
alike," *'as nearly alike as two peas/' and yet 
when one studies tliem closely and learns to know 
them intimately, they are found to differ quite 
as much as two human personalities. Not only 
is the personnel of the faculty different, but as 
a whole they emphasize different phases of work. 
They have different ideals. It is these ideals that 
draw students and that give them character, that 
make up their personality, that cause them to dif- 
fer the one from the other. One does not really 
know a college until he thoroughly understands 
its ideals and the emphasis put upon particular 
ideals. Here is where colleges fail: some in not 
having definite ideals, some in not emphasizing 
the right ones. Hence it is that certain colleges 
have large and commanding success, right along- 
side those which fail, because the former cherish 
and emphasize the ideals which appeal to that 
which is highest and noblest in men, those ideals 
which have been wrought out of the richest and 
loftiest experiences of humanity. The popularity 
of such colleges is grounded in worthiness. 

In general the ideals of Pomona were formed 

[ 39 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

early, and time and experience have served only 
to strengthen them. The '^New England type'' 
referred to by the Education Committee has been 
in most ways very closely followed. Some de- 
partures, more or less important, from the origi- 
nal type have taken place back in New England as 
well as here. College questions were widely dis- 
cussed throughout Southern California for a long 
time before the organization of Pomona, and 
from time to time have been in the limelight since. 
Nor have these discussions been confined to edu- 
cation committees and Boards of Trustees. The 
general public has been interested and has taken 
a lively part in them. These educational ques- 
tions are recognized as vital to the public weal. 
For months at a time, and it might almost be 
said for years, before and after the organization 
of the College, the college idea was in the air 
amongst Congregationalists, and was the absorb- 
ing topic of conversation. It was discussed on 
the street, in the reception room, at the festive 
board. Men generally were informed and had 
ideas of their own. The first circular setting 
forth the beginning of instruction at Pomona in- 
cidentally presents the commonly accepted con- 
clusions at the time. It states : ^ * The design of 
the College is to secure to both sexes, under the 
most favorable circumstances, as good instruc- 
tion as can be obtained in any part of the coun- 
try, in a distinctively Christian but not sectarian 

[40] 



POMONA IDEALS 

spirit, and to afford special advantages to stu- 
dents of small means.'' 

Here are emphasized scholarship, moral and 
religious training, provision for students without 
money, coeducation, and the rural college. While 
each of these ideals has been discussed and redis- 
cussed, every one is held even more firmly today 
than at that early time. 

Perhaps no ideal has been tested more severely 
than the maintenance of a high grade of scholar- 
ship. The common practice of waiving the 
standards for pecuniary reasons, or out of friend- 
ship, or because of sympathy with the unfortu- 
nate applicant, is not easily rejected, especially in 
a young institution struggling for life. If the de- 
cision is left to one man, not often does that one 
wholly resist the temptation to leniency. But 
when the Board of Trustees, the faculty and the 
constituency all insistently demand uniformity of 
standard, and the record of applicant and gradu- 
ate is kept complete, the way is comparatively 
easy. In a letter written in the early days 
and suggesting Pomona's standing, an appli- 
cant for admission to the college grade says: 
*^I should be ashamed to graduate in an institu- 
tion maintaining so low grades as the one where 
I have been fitting for college." While there 
have been many changes of requirements for ad- 
mission and for work after admission at Pomona, 
as in all first-class colleges and universities dur- 

[41] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ing this period, and while Pomona's courses are 
not identical with those of all other institutions, 
from first to last it has been the intention to have 
the courses of study not necessarily equal in 
number, but of such a character as to afford 
equal mental training with those in the very best 
institutions. It has been said that Pomona owes 
much of its success to its standards, and to its 
insistence on its standards. Its policy has been 
never to add a course of study until it could be 
given well. 

As to the Christian ideal, that has been funda- 
mental. "Without that, it has been urged, there is 
no good reason for the being of Pomona. The 
first professorship endowed was that pertaining 
to Biblical study. Not only have daily devotional 
services been required and organizations helpful 
to the Christian life been sustained, but great 
pains have been taken, without encroaching too 
much on the students' time, to introduce the most 
inspiring and effective influences the Church and 
the world can give. At the same time great care 
has been used to keep free from sectarian ten- 
dencies, emphasizing rather the broader, deeper, 
richer phases of truth which without offense ap- 
peal alike to all Christians. 

It is not easy to see how Pomona could have 
shown more clearly her freedom from narrow 
sectarianism than by her repeated efforts to 
bring together into one institution two or more of 

[42] 



POMONA IDEALS 

the Christian forces of Southern California. She 
is not afraid of contamination from varying 
Christian views of truth nor unwilling to share 
her privileges with those who are prepared to use 
them. She is more solicitous for that profounder 
fellowship which tends to bring her students into 
the closest and most sympathetic relations with 
moral and spiritual verities. 

The idea of coeducation has been discussed lit- 
tle, but rather assumed. Its rapid growth in the 
last fifty years, the development of state univer- 
sities, and the more and more insistent demand 
of women for equal rights and privileges — all 
these, combined with the ideal of the family as 
the supreme type of the natural development of 
the sexes, have seemed final in the essential fact 
of coeducation. Just how far young men and 
young women should pursue the same studies, 
and just what adaptations to make in the class 
and lecture rooms, on the athletic field and in so- 
cial relations, are not settled, and must be dis- 
cussed and worked out. The advantages of 
coeducation during the average college age are 
many and great, and become more manifest by 
experience. It would seem to be an important 
step in the process of evolution. The disadvan- 
tages appear to be theoretical, and rather to be- 
long to an early stage of advancing civilization 
than to be inherent. 

The making of ample provision for those with 

[43] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

limited financial resources also is fundamental. 
Next to the provision for Christian training Dr. 
Pearsons and many of the large givers have re- 
garded this as supreme among the ideals of the 
College. Here is one great reason for the ex- 
istence of so many smaller colleges scattered all 
over the country : they enable more young people 
to avail themselves of college advantages than 
could secure them in institutions far from home. 
Especially in these days, when so much emphasis 
is laid on class distinction, it is felt that in the 
interests of democracy, no boy or girl of fair abil- 
ity who earnestly desires a college education 
should be deterred by poverty. The opportuni- 
ties of life, at least, should be open to all who are 
v/illing to avail themselves of them. This ques- 
tion comes up to the College with every call for 
more money. To raise the price of tuition is per- 
haps an easy way to increase the income. But 
what will be the effect on the students of small 
means! Will they be shut out? Only as schol- 
arship funds are provided for those in need are 
the majority of the Board of Trustees willing to 
allow increase of tuition fees. With a sufficient 
number of free scholarships, the price of tuition 
is simply a matter of policy. If persons are kept 
from a college education by increased cost of tui- 
tion, a sacred principle is violated. 

With hardly more than a single notable excep- 
tion, the friends of Pomona have felt that the 

[44] 



POMONA IDEALS 

ideal college is the rural college. Here are ^'the 
most favorable circumstances.'' During the col- 
lege period students should be free from the dis- 
tractions and unavoidable dissipations of the 
larger city and should enjoy the quiet, the free- 
dom, the healthfulness and the inspiration of na- 
ture, in all the richness and fullness of variety 
possible. Whether we consider study or recrea- 
tion, utility or good healthy enjoyment, we find 
that the comparison of the urban and the rural 
college is greatly in favor of the latter. More- 
over, in the city the homes of the students largely 
take the place of the college dormitories, where 
experience has proved that by far the larger and 
richer advantages of college life may be gained. 
The strong reasons why some classes of gradu- 
ate students should be in contact with city en- 
vironments are believed not to pertain to the 
academic life. The question of union with other 
colleges has brought this matter to the forefront, 
and it has been discussed in all its phases ; hence 
it may be stated with positiveness that the friends 
of Pomona unanimously and heartily believe in 
the rural college. 

The site for the College v/as selected with the 
purpose of building up a distinct college toAvn. 
Much of time and thought on the part of the col- 
lege authorities has been given to the building up 
of Claremont as a college town rather than as a 
business center. Thus far the college interests 

[45] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

have predominated. It is with no little appre- 
hension that some of the best friends of the Col- 
lege see the growing importance of the fruit 
interests centering in Claremont. 

The purpose formed at the beginning was to 
establish a purely cultural college, not a univer- 
sity either in name or in reality. Great pressure 
has at times been exerted to make it more or less 
polytechnic, giving disproportionate prominence 
to one department or another, to **make it more 
practical, better adapted to its surroundings." 
But in the college councils there has been no dis- 
position to deviate from the original purpose. 
So far was this unwillingness to assume to do 
more than simple college work carried, that up 
to the issuance of the Triennial Eegister in 1911 
only one M. A. degree had been given, and that 
after two years of graduate study. Only one 
honorary degree has so far (1913) been con- 
ferred. The secondary degree is given now after 
not less than one yearns study under the direction 
of the faculty, and the acceptance of a thesis duly 
prepared for the occasion. 

Not a little of Pomona's individuality must be 
attributed to the cooperation which was early ne- 
cessitated by certain conditions, and has been 
maintained in spite of adverse influences, if not 
because of them. There has been no dominating 
personality in her counsels for any length of time. 
No scope has been allowed for the ascendancy of 

[46] 



POMONA IDEALS 

personal ambition. In matters of general pol- 
icy the interests and rights of all concerned have 
been recognized and sedulously guarded. Trus- 
tees, faculty, students and friends are included. 
Their rights have been recognized in greater 
or less degree in minor matters as well. In 
fact, the whole structure of the College has been 
cooperative. There has grown up thus a com- 
posite personality of distinctive strength and 
coloring. 

It was perfectly natural for the College and 
community in unison to plan and to put on the 
stage on the twenty-fifth anniversary, in June, 
1913, an historical pageant. The spirit of coop- 
eration reaches out into the community. The 
College and town are accustomed to cooperate. 
In the same spirit trustees, faculty and students, 
with the citizens, all combined to secure the re- 
markable success of the pageant. It was a trib- 
ute to the spirit of cooperation. 

Pomona never has been contemplating receiv- 
ing and training, under any conditions, those mor- 
ally or intellectually deficient, nor the selecting 
of exceptional scholars and training them for any 
particular profession or professions. She has 
appealed rather to the average student with a 
view to developing men and women of large re- 
sources in themselves — leaders. Christian leaders, 
fitted to be useful to their generation — and with 
a view to laying the foundations broad and deep 

[47] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

for professional studies for such as wish to pur- 
sue them. 

President Oilman has emphasized this thought 
in a passage quite worth quoting: **It is neither 
for genius nor for the dunce, but for the great 
middle class possessing ordinary talents, that we 
build our colleges; and it can be proved beyond 
the shadow of a doubt that for them the oppor- 
tunities afforded by libraries, teachers, com- 
panionship and the systematic recurrence of 
intellectual tasks are most efficient means of intel- 
lectual culture. Mental discipline may indeed be 
acquired in other ways ; the love of letters is not 
implanted by a college; the study of nature may 
be pursued alone in the open air; but given to 
each one in a group of a hundred youths a cer- 
tain amount of talent, more than mediocrity and 
less than genius — that is to say, the average abil- 
ity of a boy or girl in our high schools and acad- 
emies — and it will happen in nine cases out of 
ten that those who go to college surpass others 
during the course of life, in influence, in learning, 
in the power to do good, and in the enjoyment of 
books, nature and art. Mental powers may be 
developed in other places — the Mechanics Insti- 
tute, the Mercantile Library, the winter Lyceum, 
the private study, the gatherings of young men 
in the haunts of business and in the walks of civil 
life; but not so easily nor so systematically, nor 
so thoroughly, nor so auspiciously, nor so pleas- 

[48] 



POMONA IDEALS 

antly. With all their defects, colleges are the 
best agencies the world has ever discovered for 
the training of the intellectual forces of youth.''* 

There has been some discussion of the question 
of limiting the number of students to be received 
at Pomona College, but so far there is a wide dif- 
ference as to the ideal number. Moreover, there 
is a strong feeling that in the midst of the won- 
derful development of Southern California no 
man can tell just what the future may demand. 
Evidently the time has not come for fixing any 
limit. Pomona awaits developments. 

Another tendency has been growing until it 
may be said to be a cherished ideal; namely, the 
maintenance and protection of the dignity and 
essential honor of the College. If there is a 
seeming conflict between individual and college 
interests, the college interests must prevail. The 
College must not be sacrificed to individual in- 
terests. Pomona has no deadheads in any de- 
partment, from highest to lowest. No one is 
making a profit out of the College. Every de- 
partment must be carried on in a manner worthy 
of the College, worthy of the college authorities, 
worthy of its friends. Confidence must be as- 
sured in the present and in the future, at what- 
ever cost. Begun by faith, maintained so far by 
faith, its future is assured by faith. Dr. Horace 
Bushnell, while in the service of the College of 

* The Launching of a University. 

[49] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

California, put this thought in his own unique 
way, in writing on behalf of the board of trustees : 
* ^ They are not unadvised of the immense expendi- 
ture necessary to create such an institution, or the 
very considerable sum necessary to create a be- 
ginning, that can have the promise of growth so 
expanded. At the same time they also under- 
stand that the true way to carry a project often is 
to make it difficult, and not to cheapen it down be- 
low enthusiasm, where it is feasible to the calcu- 
lation of mere selfishness or convenience. How 
often is a thing lost by making it virtually noth- 
ing in order to get it done. They regard the 
people of California as having a more generous 
temperament, preferring if they do anything to 
have it something worthy of them and their pub- 
lic name. We believe too that after such an in- 
stitution as we contemplate is fairly started and 
becomes a cherished ornament of the state, men 
of wealth who wish to become benefactors will 
take it on them as volunteers to bestow additional 
endowment, some while living and others by their 
wills, and that in this manner it will be fully 
endowed. ' ' 

Another ideal has been much in the minds and 
hearts of those who have sacrificed most for Po- 
mona; namely, to have a part in that great work 
outlined anonymously by a writer in the *' Inde- 
pendent'' fifty years ago. *^The business of this 
new state of California, as it may more or less 

[50] 



POMONA IDEALS 

affect six liundred million souls across the Pa- 
cific, should be guided by holy hands, that the 
light of Christianity may grow in the wake of 
trade. The Chinese lose their night only by the 
sun which rolls up from the American shore of 
the Pacific. The shaping of this whole thing will 
be by that school in California which shall best 
furnish the pulpit, the bar, the medical and the 
teacher's profession in a shorter time and with 
greater facility than it could be done in any other 
state of the Union.''* 

* College of California. Dr. S. H. Willey. 



[51] 



CHAPTER V 

THE FIEST TRUSTEES 

The office of college trustee is not primarily one 
of honor, or of financial helpfulness, but one of 
service. No self-respecting institution elects a 
man to that office simply because he has money, 
even though he be generous with his money, 
or because his name will lend to it distinction. 
What the college wants in its board of trustees is 
a working force. While it is assumed that men 
who have accumulated money honestly possess 
good judgment and administrative ability, many 
others who do not acquire wealth have these 
essential qualities. It is the combined judgment 
and activity of such men, who also have interest 
enough in the work to give time and thought to it, 
that makes a college strong. To accept the office 
of trustee is to commit oneself to the college inter- 
ests. This commitment, together with its influ- 
ence, is cumulative. The longer the men thus 
committed continue in the office, the more valuable 
they become and the more heavily the responsi- 
bility of the college rests on them. They at 
length may become identified with it in their own 
minds and in the minds of others. It is their 
college. 

[52] 



THE FIRST TRUSTEES 

The first trustees lay tlie foundation and form 
the policy of the institution, according to con- 
ditions at the time. Conditions change, and in 
some ways the policy may change. Happy is 
that institution whose first trustees are large 
enough to take into consideration changed con- 
ditions, and to adapt the policy to the command- 
ing needs. 

In this respect Pomona has been most fortu- 
nate. While its first trustees were strong in 
their convictions and pronounced in their policies, 
and some of them are active to the present day, 
there have been no obstructionists among them. 
Conservative in the best sense, they have been 
ready to shape the policy to the new conditions 
and to take the lead in forward movements. 
They have been men of vision, men of faith, men 
of action, whose lives it is a pleasure and profit 
to study. 

By right Rev. James T. Ford should have the 
first place in the enumeration of the first Board 
of Trustees of Pomona College. The better Mr. 
Ford is known, the stronger the desire to learn 
minutely of his personality and his life work. 
He was born at Abington, Massachusetts, Sep- 
tember 13, 1827, and was graduated at Williams 
College and Andover Theological Seminary. His 
first work was of a missionary character in Ver- 
mont. Thence he went to Charleston, South 

[53] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Carolina, and entered upon the pastorate of 
Plymouth Church, which was attended by the 
colored students of Avery Institute. As early as 
1875 he assumed the pastorate of the Congre- 
gational Church of San Bernardino. Subse- 
quently he became the General Missionary, and 
finally Home Missionary Superintendent of 
Southern California. His native good sense, 
breadth of view, wise progressiveness and pre- 
vious activities peculiarly fitted him to help 
inaugurate and foster such a work as Pomona 
College. His wife, Sarah Pritchard Bancroft, of 
East Windsor Hill, Connecticut, where Mr. Ford 
spent two years in theological study, was a con- 
genial helper, and they worked together with rare 
unity and zest. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ford adopted the College at its 
beginning. Their home was a college home, for 
officers, teachers, students* Mrs. Ford inherited 
a little money, and together they saved a little. 
Frugal but comfortable livers, they never forgot 
their stewardship. In the final disposition of their 
surplus, they did not wait for last wills and testa- 
ments, to be quarrelled over and probably never 
carried out, but themselves saw their gifts be- 
stowed where they wished them to be, and doing 
the work they wished them to do, while they them- 
selves had an assured income sufficient for 
possible needs. 

Mr. Ford, while not conspicuous for initiative, 

[54] 



THE FIEST TRUSTEES 

nevertheless was a rarely efficient member of the 
Board of Trustees. Always prompt in attend- 
ance and in execution, never impulsive in word or 
action, at the fitting time his matured opinion was 
ready and had its influence. In public and in 
private he never lost an opportunity for a word 
or deed in the interest of the College. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Ford w^ere among the 
earliest as well as most generous contributors to 
the scholarship and general funds of Pomona. 

Mr. Ford died April 14, 1892, at the age of 
seventy-five years. Mrs. Ford survived him long 
enough to carry out his wishes and to see some- 
thing of the maturing fruits of their generosity. 
Another has said of them, ^*Mr. and Mrs. Ford 
have a substantial investment in nearly every 
church in Southern California, and a large foun- 
dation stone in Pomona College. ' ' 

The president of the corporation the first ^ve 
years was Mr. Henry A. Palmer. The inception 
of Pomona hinged on the unselfish interest of this 
man in the college enterprise. He was also one 
of those interested in the Claremont site. In 
many ways, humanly speaking, he was indis- 
pensable during the early years. He built him- 
self into the foundations. Mr. Palmer's wife was 
a granddaughter of President Day of Yale Col- 
lege. She was a w^oman of bright mind and great 
force of character. Her appalling affliction in the 

[55] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

later years of her life brought upon her husband 
a burden which was well-nigh crushing. 

It has been helpful and a source of genuine 
satisfaction to consult with Mr. Palmer on the 
history of those early days, and to use the ma- 
terial which he had preserved. He was a Con- 
necticut man, born at Stonington (Mystic) De- 
cember 23, 1842. His father, Benjamin Franklin 
Palmer, was descended from Walter Palmer, who 
came to Connecticut in 1628. His mother was 
Eliza Hart, the daughter of a minister. Giving 
up a college education because of poor health, he 
came to California in 1861. For many years he 
led an active business life, public and private, in 
the northern part of the State; later he came 
south and opened a bank in the early days of the 
city of Pomona. 

On his retirement from the Board the following 
resolution was passed: *^The term of Brother 
H. A. Palmer as trustee of the institution having 
expired, and he having declined to be a candidate 
for reelection, we wish to put on record our deep 
appreciation of his munificent benefactions and 
efficient services. His generosity made the 
genesis of this college possible. He has served 
this board as its president from its organization. 
His profound interest in the school, and his ex- 
perience in other important boards of trust, have 
made him an excellent counsellor. His familiarity 
with parliamentry and commercial law and his 

[56] 



THE FIRST TRUSTEES 

facility in drawing up legal papers have rendered 
his services invaluable to his co-trustees. With 
confidence in Brother Palmer's continued interest 
in our institution, we extend to him, with a copy 
of this minute, our personal greetings and the 
gratitude of this board. ' ' 

For many years Mr. Nathan W. Blanchard was 
the vice president of the Board. He was born on 
a farm in Madison, Maine, July 27, 1831, of Hu- 
guenot descent. Both his father and mother 
were of New England training. By teaching and 
other work he overcame the drawbacks of his 
earlier life, and entered Waterville (now Colby) 
College. Debts accumulated, and at the end of 
two years he came to California to earn the money 
with which to pay them, and to continue his col- 
lege course. A series of misfortunes, however, 
interfered with his plans, and he did not resume 
his studies in college. Notwithstanding this, 
Colby has given him the Bachelor's degree and 
also the Master's degree. 

Mr. Blanchard 's integrity, loyalty to his con- 
victions, and business ability have given him suc- 
cess and brought him into many positions of 
private and public responsibility. A staunch 
Congregationalist although living at some dis- 
tance from any Congregational church, he has 
kept in close touch with the churches of his faith 
and is a recognized leader among them. 

[57] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE ; 

In various positions in connection with tlie 
Board of Trustees, he has borne the heavy bur- 
dens and been active in forming the policy of the 
College. Many, thoughtful and generous as have 
been his gifts, perhaps his careful conservatism, 
in its steadying effect, has been equally helpful. 
Mr. Blanchard has been identified so closely with 
Pomona that in the minds of the people of South- 
ern California, and to some extent of the whole 
State, Pomona 's honor is his honor, and his honor 
Pomona's honor. 

Always associated with Mr. Blanchard 's name 
in connection with Pomona is that of Mr. George 
W. Marston, now the president of the corporation. 
Mr. Marston is in this position not for his own 
sake, not as a reward for what he has done, but 
for what he is able and willing to do. He is 
one of the three original members who are still on 
the Board. From the first he has grown into the 
councils of the trustees until he is the recognized 
leader. The distance of his home from the Col- 
lege renders his visits costly in time and money. 
Nevertheless he seldom fails to be present on 
important occasions. In 1909, before the coming 
of President Blaisdell, while facing the difficult 
and important matters looking to the ** Greater 
Pomona,'* the Board of Trustees unanimously 
called upon Mr. Marston to preside. In taking up 
the long-delayed canvass to meet Mr. Carnegie's 

158] 



THE FIRST TRUSTEES 

conditional gift, his business acumen, knowledge 
of men and unfailing optimism were invaluable. 
In his gifts from time to time Mr. Marston seems 
oblivious of name and fame and personal prefer- 
ence, and always ready to help where the help 
will tell most in the interests of the College. 

Few colleges have had on their board of trustees 
for twenty-five years two such colaborers as Mr. 
Blanchard and Mr. Marston, always acting in 
harmony, the one keeping pace with the other, 
but acting naturally, independently and conscien- 
tiously for the upbuilding of the College. Their 
leadership alone might almost insure success. 
May their good offices continue yet many years. 
May they have the satisfaction of seeing Pomona 
lifted into a position in which she shall be 
equipped to do ideally the work for which the 
Lord, so largely through their instrumentality, 
has brought her into being, and so far and so 
happily along her course. 

Mr. Marston 's career has been one of quiet 
growth, fruitful all along the way and ever in- 
creasingly successful. Born in the township of 
Koshkonong, Wisconsin, October 22, 1850, after 
the usual country schooling he took the four 
years' preparatory course at Beloit College. 
Then he worked for a year in a flour mill and 
with the money saved took a special scientific 
course in Michigan University. Fixing on Cali- 
fornia as his future home, he came directly to 

[59] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

San Diego. Here, after an experience of four 
years as clerk in a store, he took up the mercantile 
business himself, at first with a partner and then 
alone. He has built up one of the strongest, as it 
is the oldest, of the dry goods and clothing estab- 
lishments in Southern California. His career, 
apparently at its full tide, is notable not only for 
its large business success but for its breadth and 
variety of accomplishment. He is interested 
deeply in the work of the local churches and their 
benevolences, in the Young Men's Christian As- 
sociation and in municipal affairs. He has made a 
specialty of parks and the beautifying of the city 
of San Diego. Among other things he has found 
more or less time for political work in the city, 
county and State. At the last meeting of the 
General Association of Congregational Churches, 
Mr. Marston was elected moderator, the first 
layman ever elected to that position by this 
Association. 

In the inspiring atmosphere of a scholarly 
Christian New England home, Mr. Henry Kirke 
White Bent was born. His father, a graduate 
of Harvard College, at the time of his death was 
pastor of the Congregational Church in Amherst, 
Massachusetts. His mother in early life was a 
highly cultured teacher, and in later years her 
invalid room was the resort of earnest and 
thoughtful men and women who loved to discuss 

[60] 



THE FIRST TRUSTEES 

the problems of the day. Under such strong 
formative influences, the boy naturally looked 
forward for his life's work to the Christian min- 
istry. Serious trouble with his eyes, however, 
compelled him to turn to an out-of-doors life, 
and he chose railroad and mining engineering. 
He quickly took high rank in his profession. 
Coming to California in 1858, in addition to con- 
tinuing his professional work he became a factor 
in the religious, educational and political life of 
the communities with which he was thrown. 

Under the pressure of his profession his health 
gave way, and he was constrained finally to aban- 
don the work of an engineer. At length he took 
up the real estate business, and in 1867 came to 
Los Angeles, at the beginning of its more rapid 
development. He was drawn into a very active 
life in this growing city. A charter member of 
the First Congregational Church, he was one 
of the founders of the Public Library and also of 
the Horticultural Society. He also served in turn 
as postmaster and president of the Board of 
Education. 

About the time of the founding of the College 
Mr. Bent married his second wife and moved to 
Pasadena. Here again he entered heartily into 
the interests of the city, and he became a charter 
member of the North Congregational Church. 

Mr. Bent never ceased to regret that he could 
not have had the full course of education and en- 

[61] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

tered the Cliristiaii ministry. When the oppor- 
tunity came to him to help found a Christian col- 
lege, he eagerly seized upon it as a means of aid- 
ing others to enjoy that of which he himself had 
been deprived. For unqualified devotion and the 
expenditure of time and money at a sacrifice 
known to few, although felt by more than one, 
surely he stands among the foremost of the found- 
ers of Pomona. Several years he was president 
of the corporation; a year or more he was on 
salary and spent most of his time in the college 
office. Always in delicate health and for some 
years closely shut in, his interest and helpfulness 
never waned. The last months of his life, feeble 
and suffering, his face lighted up with the old- 
time beaming gratification at good news from Po- 
mona. Doubtless the years of perplexity, of 
midnight discussions, of constant effort and strain 
to satisfy the imperative demands of the College 
and to attain the impossible, shortened his life. 
If so, he would have been the last one to regret it ; 
nor would Mrs. Bent, always in fullest sympathy 
with him, have had it otherwise. 

Mr. Bent died July 29, 1902, seventy-one years 
of age. The following is from an action of the 
Board of Trustees when he declined reelection: 
*^ Resolved, that especially by his self-sacrificing 
devotion to the College, assuming freely, though 
in poor health, the burden of a laborious corre- 
spondence and of perplexing conferences, he has 

[62] 



THE FIRST TRUSTEES 

won our gratitude and admiring love; and if a 
college becomes a blessing in so far as it is built 
on sacrifice, he assuredly has helped in great 
measure to open before this institution a bright 
prospect of beneficent influence.'' 

Rev. Charles B. Sheldon, the son of a Congre- 
gational minister, was graduated at Williams 
College in 1847 and studied theology at Hudson, 
Ohio. After a pastorate of three years at Re- 
public, Ohio, and one of thirty years at Excelsior, 
Minnesota, he cariie to California on account of 
ill health, and after two short pastorates settled 
on a ranch near North Pomona. He was actively 
and effectively interested in the founding of Po- 
mona, and although disappointed when the first 
site, quite near his home, was abandoned, he did 
not waver in his interest, loyalty and generosity. 
He was one of the original trustees, and the first 
treasurer. The minutes of the General Associa- 
tion of Southern California characterize him very 
truthfully: *^Most manifestly our brother was a 
man of God. To those who knew him best he 
always seemed to be an Israelite indeed in whom 
there was no guile. He evidently had great near- 
ness to the throne of grace in prayer. He walked 
with God. He was a gentle man. He caused us 
often to think of that disciple whom Jesus loved. 
To a marked degree his was a catholic mind. He 
loved the truth; he searched for it. He was a 

[63] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

lover of his country. He was a lover of his race. 
All that he possessed he held in trust. He was 
deeply engaged in the temperance reform. He 
had a passionate love for missions, at home and 
abroad. One of his daughters is a devoted and 
honored missionary in India. By his unaided 
gifts he has supported several native preachers 
in that land. ' ' 

The secretary of the Education Committee of 
the General Association of Congregational 
Churches which located the College, Eev. T. C. 
Hunt, pastor of the Congregational Church at 
Riverside, California, was chosen trustee by the 
nine trustees appointed by that Committee. He 
was continuously on the Executive Committee 
while he remained in the State. Mr. Hunt and 
Mr. Frank A. Miller of Riverside, the latter own- 
ing one-seventh of the property, suggested the 
giving of the Claremont site to the College, the 
other owners, at their solicitation, readily assent- 
ing. No one more fully appreciated the hard 
work, the dangers and the difficulties in building 
up a college than Mr. Hunt. He saw all the ob- 
stacles, and was very shy of the risks. The older 
members of the Board of Trustees well remember 
his persistent and reiterated cautions against 
running in debt. Doubtless these warnings were 
necessary, and served as a real safeguard in those 
early days. Quite possibly the faith of some of 

[64] 



THE FIEST TEUSTEES 

the early members in the future of Pomona might 
have carried them too far in their anxiety ^^not 
to cheapen it down below enthusiasm.'^ The 
college motto was proposed by Mr. Hunt. 

Mr. Hunt was a graduate of Dartmouth College 
and of Chicago Theological Seminary. He was 
ordained at Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1881, 
and assumed the pastorate of the Congregational 
Church at Prescott, Arizona, at once. He went 
from the pastorate of the Riverside Church to 
Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 

Few men have had so varied an experience in 
Christian work as has Rev. James H. Harwood, 
D.D. Graduated at Williams College and Union 
Theological Seminary, his first pastorate was at 
Crystal Lake, Illinois. Mr. Moody took him 
thence into his mission work in Chicago. Re- 
moving to Springfield, Missouri, his home mis- 
sionary superintendency of the great Southwest 
enabled him to engage in a work — in that part of 
Missouri, in Texas and Oklahoma, and as far east 
as Atlanta, Georgia — that has proved remarkably 
fruitful in churches and educational institutions. 
Coming to California in 1886, he has continued in 
the same line of work. One of the first-appointed 
trustees, he withdrew from the Board because he 
was to live too far away to attend the meetings, 
and his brother took his place. 

In harmony with the original purpose of the 

[65] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

College, Dr. Harwood sought to transfer to the 
Board of Trustees a capacious building, con- 
structed and more or less used for an academy, in 
Orange. Changed conditions, however, ren- 
dered it unadvisable to assume the responsibility 
involved. 

For the first twelve years Rev. J. K. McLean, 
D.D., then pastor of the First Congregational 
Church of Oakland, represented the northern part 
of the State on the Board of Trustees. He usu- 
ally came to the meetings at least once a year, and 
oftener when it seemed especially desirable. His 
wide experience and acknowledged ability gave to 
him a unique position on the Board. This was 
especially noticeable in important changes, and at 
other junctures. His presence always gave a 
sense of strength. In financial matters in the 
early years he was helpful in the north. It was 
with extreme reluctance that he was given up 
when he assumed the presidency of Pacific Theo- 
logical Seminary. 

Rev. C. B. Sumner, engaged in the interests of 
the Pilgrim Congregational Church of Pomona at 
the time of the incorporation of the College, was 
born at Southbridge, Massachusetts. His ances- 
tors on both sides were of good New England 
stock ; the men were men of affairs in Church and 
State. On his father's side his great-grandfather 
was a graduate of Harvard College. An older 

[66] 



THE FIRST TRUSTEES 

half-brother was a graduate of Amherst College. 

Mr. Sumner was graduated at Yale College and 
Andover Theological Seminary. He was in the 
Civil War nine months, and subsequently, with 
his regiment, camped ten days in Faneuil Hall, 
Boston, during the riots of 1863. His first pas- 
torate was of the Congregational Church at Mon- 
son, Massachusetts, where he had taught 
previously in Monson Academy. Before coming 
to California he was also successively pastor at 
West Somerville, Massachusetts, and at Tucson, 
Arizona; and for two years superintendent of 
home missions in Arizona and New Mexico. He 
had to do with the location of the College, was the 
first secretary, and is one of the three original 
trustees now on the Board. The spring after the 
organization of the College he w^as made financial 
agent as well as secretary. Until President 
Baldwin assumed the duties of his office, Mr. 
Sumner was the recognized executive officer of 
the Board of Trustees and of the Executive 
Committee. 

At the beginning of President Baldwin's ad- 
ministration Mr. Sumner was elected professor 
of Biblical literature, and for health considera- 
tions sought and obtained a year's absence with- 
out pay. Notwithstanding he had been made a 
member of the faculty, he was continued on the 
Board of Trustees and in the offices of the Board. 
On his return to Claremont after a year's absence, 

[67] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

the Congregational Churcli of Claremont was or- 
ganized and recognized by council, and Mr. Sum- 
ner accepted its pastorate, Ms professorship in 
the College still continuing. The pastorate was 
relinquished in little more than a year. Owing to 
President Baldwin's absorption in large projects 
outside the immediate college field, and his fre- 
quent absence from Claremont, the business mat- 
ters of the College largely devolved on the 
secretary, much as in the first two years. In 1893, 
Mr. Sumner, with his own consent, was excused 
from the classroom and all other work in order 
that he might devote his entire time to financial 
matters. From this time on, except for a short pe- 
riod during President Ferguson's administration, 
until the coming of President Blaisdell, financial 
and other business matters for the College, in the 
State and out of the State, have largely occupied 
his time. For two years, from 1897 to 1899, he 
was not on the Board of Trustees, but retained 
the position of financial secretary one year of that 
time and devoted much time to that work the 
other year. In 1899 he resigned his professor- 
ship, which had been practically sacrificed to 
other work for the College from the time of his 
appointment to the faculty. At that time he was 
reelected to the Board of Trustees, to the secre- 
taryship, to the Executive Committee and to the 
Financial Committee of the Board. On the resig- 
nation of President Ferguson he was again ap- 

168} 



THE FIRST TRUSTEES 

pointed financial secretary, and retained that 
position practically through President Gates ^ ad- 
ministration. Pomona conferred on him the 
degree of LL. D. in 1910. 

In 1903 Mr. Sumner was married to Mrs. 
Maria Frost Cole, who lived less than three years 
thereafter. Her interest in the College is per- 
petuated by a fund for the purchase of books for 
the library. 

Mr. Seth Richards and Mr. Elwood Cooper, 
whose names appear on the Articles of Incorpo- 
ration, declined their appointment to the Board 
of Trustees. 

Rev. D. D. Hill, then pastor of the First Con- 
gregational Church of Pasadena, will be remem- 
bered for his interest in connection with the by- 
laws. He retired from the Board soon after 
their adoption. Judge Anson Brunson was best 
known as consulting attorney for the College. 
Mr. Howard W. Mills planned large things for the 
College, but a series of misfortunes prevented 
his carrying out his plans and he withdrew from 
the Board. His interest, however, has never 
flagged. Rev. A. J. Wells retired from the Board 
when he changed his residence. A recent letter 
states that he still cherishes a warm interest in 
Pomona. Rev. C. T. Weitzel filled a vacancy for 
a short period before he left the State. Many 
remember his scholarly address on *^ Reading'' 

[69] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

before the Pomona College Literary Society at 
the dedication of its room in Holmes Hall. 

Mr. A. S. McPherron, a graduate of Oberlin 
College, elected to fill a vacancy, was on the 
Board for ten years. At the time he was chosen 
he was associated with his brother, Mr. John M. 
McPherron, in McPherron Academy, Los An- 
geles. Since the Academy was given up he has 
been connected with the public schools of Eed- 
lands, and the San Bernardino County schools, 
as superintendent. Before coming to this State 
he was in charge of the New West Academy at 
Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mr. McPherron is 
the kind of man whose work is not wholly con- 
fined to the official duties of his office, but whose 
quiet and timely words go a long way toward 
building up an institution. 

Rev. R, G. Hutchins, D.D., pastor of the First 
Congregational Church in Los Angeles, came to 
the Board of Trustees in 1888 and continued as 
trustee until he left the State in 1894. His first 
appearance before the College was at the laying 
of the corner stone of the ** Central Building, '* 
when he gave the principal address. Placed on 
the Executive Committee, he manifested hearty 
interest in the college work, and gave to it much 
of time and thought. Positive in his convictions, 
clear and strong in the statement of his positions, 
he had a commanding influence. He was invited 

[70] 



THE FIRST TRUSTEES 

to accept the presidency of the College, but 
declined. 

Born at West Killingly, Connecticut, he was 
graduated at Williams College and Andover 
Theological Seminary. Marietta College gave 
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Before 
going to Los Angeles he had several Congrega- 
tional pastorates. He went from California to a 
Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Ohio. 



[71] 



CHAPTER VI 

THE COLLEGE SITE 

The location selected for the College by the Ed- 
ucation Committee was a choice one. It was a 
mesa or table-land of some hundred acres, with a 
rich loamy soil, overlooking large stretches of the 
valley which extends from Los Angeles to San 
Bernardino, sixty miles in length, and from ten 
to twenty miles in width. At the present time 
this expansive stretch of country is one vast, 
beautiful garden plot, made up of alfalfa fields, 
orange and lemon orchards, eucalyptus, pepper, 
live oak, and other evergreen trees, growing in 
groups and long rows, and marking boundaries, 
cities, villages and villa homes. The single and 
clustered houses and streets are lighted by elec- 
tricity, and in the evening the sheen here and 
there, with occasional single lights, gives the ef- 
fect of a fairyland. It is a place of vision. More 
than one has looked down from this elevation in 
imagination upon millions of inhabitants rejoic- 
ing in semi-tropical climate and vegetation, while 
surrounded and gniarded by mountain ranges 
with their snow-clad peaks — in sharp contrast 
with remembered homes where for six months in 
the year the eye must be content with a dreary, 

[72] 



THE COLLEGE SITE 

bleak, forbidding sameness, varied only by 
months of snowy covering. 

This level mesa drops precipitately thirty or 
more feet to the eastward and southward, down 
to the general level of the floor of the valley, and 
to the northward to a plain of gravelly soil well 
suited to business and recreation purposes. This 
lower plain of a few acres is at the entrance of 
one of our most attractive caiions, or natural 
parks, a more or less wooded ravine extending 
between the foothills up to the mountains' base. 
A flowing stream, its banks laden with trees, 
shrubs and flowers, winds along the depression, 
with here and there its pools and miniature falls, 
its little islands and its diminutive table-lands 
with their luxuriant coverings. The steep sides 
of the foothills now fall back, now approach each 
other, until in one place they form a rocky gorge 
whose precipitous walls, almost touching, sug- 
gest the building of a high dam which should ar- 
rest the onrushing stream and form a pleasure 
pond or lake, spreading out between the hillsides 
and stretching for a mile or two tow^ard the 
mountains. 

The site is a mile and one-half from North 
Pomona, from which point a motor ran between 
the Santa Fe Railroad station and the City of 
Pomona, two and one-half miles distant. Unto 
this day the place awakens enthusiasm in its vis- 
itors, night or day, and learning its history they 

[73] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

exclaim, *^What an ideal spot for a cultural 
college ! ' ' 

The delay of college work incident to the land 
excitement and the rapid development which ex- 
tended to every part of Southern California, un- 
fortunate as it was, was unavoidable. Not a 
hand was lifted for six months after the incorpo- 
ration and organization of the College, even to 
collect subscriptions. Yet no one could be 
blamed. Every officer of the College was over- 
whelmed with work by reason of the unwonted 
and feverish stimulus felt in every department 
of business and every phase of life. 

The Executive Committee, to whom was com- 
mitted the securing of some one to take up the 
college work, came to feel that the case was des- 
perate. A speedy and vigorous movement alone 
could prevent the collapse of the enterprise. 
Finally, no one being found to whom they were 
willing to entrust the responsibility, they turned 
to the secretary and urged him to save the Col- 
lege. The young church at Pomona, which he 
was then serving, pleaded with him not to leave 
it at this early stage, affirming that it meant ruin. 
His own heart pleaded also against the proposi- 
tion, for this was his ideal pastorate ; besides, to 
leave it now for this purpose meant, in his mind, 
virtually to abandon the calling to which he had 
devoted his life. Nevertheless he was intensely 
interested in the College, and committed to it as 

[74] 



THE COLLEGE SITE 

even more important than any one church, and 
he finally consented to assume the duties of finan- 
cial secretary as soon as the right man could be 
found to take the pastorate which he must lay 
down. He found his old friend, Eev. L. H. 
Frary, and persuaded him to accept the field. 
The Church consenting to the change, Mr. Sum- 
ner assumed the college responsibilities April 1, 
1888, after one year of work for Pilgrim Church. 
This act on the part of the secretary was felt to 
be a distinct sacrifice, involving a life consecra- 
tion to the purpose of building up a Christian 
college. 

Very quickly it was found that the seriousness 
of the situation had not been overestimated. 
Matters were already bad enough, and growing 
worse and worse. Money subscribed could be 
collected only with difficulty. New gifts were 
out of the question. No money could be raised 
on land. The secretary seemed powerless; and 
yet the Board of Trustees had instructed the 
Executive Committee to proceed with the laying 
out of the town of '* Piedmont, ' ^ the securing of 
plans for the ** Central Building, '^ and prepara- 
tions for the opening of the College in the fall. 
There was but one thing to do — push on just as 
fast and as far as possible, and collect and put into 
permanent form every dollar that could possibly 
be secured, hoping for future developments. 
Faith was taxed to the uttermost. It was hardly 

[75] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

possible to anticipate more than one step at 
a time. Yet was there no cessation in the 
forward movement. Looking back upon it, faith 
seems to have been well-nigh blind to human 
obstacles. 

Frequent meetings were held by the Executive 
Committee. The secretary was in daily consul- 
tation with the president of the corporation, who 
was keenly alive to the situation. Mr. Bent, too, 
came speedily into fullest sympathy with their 
labors, and his counsels were prized. Mr. Ford 
and Mr. Sheldon also could be counted on for co- 
operation. Thus the financial secretary was sure 
of solid backing. He was an optimist, and did 
not waver nor hesitate. While collecting what 
money he could, and corresponding with refer- 
ence to the teaching force, he also superintended 
work on the grounds. 

Under the direction of Mr. Wesley Beach, a 
competent engineer, the campus was plotted and 
the village of Piedmont laid out in blocks and 
lots. It was found that good clay could be ob- 
tained from the college campus, and it was de- 
cided to build of brick made from this clay. 
Through the president of the Board, Mr. Clinton 
Day, an architect of repute in and about San 
Francisco, was employed, and drew the plans for 
the building. These called for a structure of 
three stories with a basement: the basement to 
be made of stone and the remainder of brick 

[76] 



THE COLLEGE SITE 

trimmed with local brownstone; the dimensions 
to be one hundred and seven feet in frontage by 
eighty feet in depth. The lines of the building 
were plain, neat, substantial and artistic. The 
basement was divided into rooms where were to 
be placed the chemical, biological, physical and 
mechanical equipments. The main floor was to 
contain an assembly room with seating capacity 
for two hundred and eighty, recitation rooms 
and offices. On the floors above there were to be 
several recitation rooms and fifty dormitory and 
study rooms. The cost was to be about forty-five 
thousand dollars. The plans were accepted and 
instruction was given to build as rapidly as pos- 
sible. Accordingly bricks were made, suffi- 
cient for the entire structure, the grounds were 
graded and the foundations laid, all ready for the 
corner-stone. The work occupied the summer 
months. 

It is interesting to review these plans and note 
the ideas of the trustees as to the needs of the 
College at the outset, in contrast with the neces- 
sities at subsequent times. They judged, in view 
of the experiences of like institutions, that they 
were building amply for twenty-five years. No 
one thought of classes of more than fifty students. 
The needs have come crowding so rapidly at 
every stage of the way that it has been necessary 
to hold the mind always open and responsive to 
their demands. The most optimistic anticipa- 

[77] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE • 

tions ever and again have been exceeded by the 
realization. 

A notable feature of this summer's work, 
which was a long and heavy task requiring many 
men and many teams, was the alacrity with 
which the ranchers, in some cases with heavy 
mortgages on their ranches, and working men 
with families, gave of their own time and the time 
of their teams to aid the enterprise. Hundreds 
of dollars were freely contributed in this way. 
These men felt a personal interest in this provi- 
sion for the higher education of their families 
and the families of their neighbors. Many a ref- 
erence was made by different ones to personal 
knowledge or experience of similar institutions in 
the Middle West and in New England. The 
strongest testimony was given to their utility and 
to the value of the Christian college to its constit- 
uency. One of the largest subscribers, when he 
gave his check, said, ^*I am not a Congregation- 
alist. My wife is a member of another church 
and I like to attend worship with her. But I 
have noticed that the Congregationalists are more 
successful than any other denomination in build- 
ing up educational institutions. They have a 
genius for that work. I am glad to help you." 
These testimonies were encouraging and stimu- 
lating as one looked forward into the future and 
realized the sort of constituency by which the Col- 
lege was to be surrounded. 

[78J 



THE COLLEGE SITE 

The laying of the corner-stone was felt to be 
a great event. It was a waymark of progress, 
the first appeal to the attention of the public. 
What would be the response? Would the wide- 
spread depression of spirits weaken the faith of 
untried friends, causing them to look upon the 
enterprise as destined to be a failure! Or would 
they rally around the College in good faith, take 
courage themselves and impart courage to those 
who were striving to build? These questions 
came to many minds, not excepting those of the 
Executive Committee. They did not, however, 
retard, but rather accelerated, the efforts to carry 
forward the work. The inward voice alone was 
heeded, whose command, oft reiterated, was, *^Go 
forward. ' * 

The time fixed upon for the laying of the cor- 
ner-stone was September 26. Careful arrange- 
ments were made for a large gathering. Rev. 
R. G. Hutchins, D.D., who had just come to the 
pastorate of the First Congregational Church of 
Los Angeles, had been invited to give the princi- 
pal address. The president of the Board of 
Trustees, Mr. H. A. Palmer, was to preside and 
officially lay the stone. A meeting of the Board 
of Trustees was called for the same day. Gen- 
eral invitations were extended, through the 
churches of the Congregational denomination and 
through other denominations in Pomona as well, 
to the friends of the College to meet on the 

[79] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

grounds at ten o 'clock in the morning and to re- 
main and partake of a basket lunch after the 
exercises. 

The day dawned, one of the worst in the sum- 
mer, the air full of electricity; and an early 
shower was followed by most oppressive, muggy 
heat. It was a test of loyalty to go out into the 
country and stand under the broiling sun. But 
^ve hundred or more from the neighboring cities, 
and from Los Angeles, Pasadena, Redlands, 
Eiverside and Santa Ana, participated in the 
exercises. 

It was a notable gathering. Rev. Mr. Wells 
led in prayer. A quartet led by Mr. F. P. Brack- 
ett sang. The presiding officer gave a brief his- 
torj^ of the enterprise, and stated its purpose and 
its hopes, guided as it would be by the experiences 
of many like institutions which had grown up 
under the same fostering care. The address of 
the day by Dr. Hutchins was peculiarly appro- 
priate, and was received with marked favor. 
The need of Christian education in this section 
of so great promise was dwelt upon; the happy 
auspices under which the College had its begin- 
ning, and the high ideals of its progenitors were 
made to presage large success in the early future. 
The advantages that would accrue to its constit- 
uency were vividly portrayed. Rev. Mr. Ford 
read from the Scriptures and Rev. Mr. Hunt led 
in prayer. Under the direction of Mr. Palmer 

[80] 



THE COLLEGE SITE 

a box containing a history of the enterprise, lo- 
cal newspapers and kindred documents was sealed 
and put in place, and the stone was lowered and 
adjusted to its position. The congregation sang 
the well-known dedicatory hymn of Mr. N. P. 
Willis beginning, ^^The perfect world by Adam 
trod.'' Dr. Harwood happily expressed the con- 
gratulations of the Board of Trustees on so prom- 
ising a beginning of the College; Mr. Lyman 
Allen of La Verne spoke of the growth and prom- 
ise of the valley; letters of regret, and of sym- 
pathy with the undertaking, were read from 
Ex-governor Merrill of Iowa and others; the 
quartet sang again, and the audience was dis- 
missed with the benediction by Eev. Mr. Sumner. 

The assembly then adjourned to a shady spot, 
where the lunch was served. Every one present 
enjoyed the occasion and felt from this first ex- 
perience that Pomona College had a warm place 
in the hearts of its constituency, and the promise 
of a future. At the same time, how imperfectly 
could those there gathered together, looking down 
the vista of time, foresee the lines along which 
this promise was to be fulfilled ! That very day, 
all unperceived by human ear, the death knell was 
sounded to the hopes centering in this particular 
corner-stone, and also in the village of Piedmont. 

At the meeting of the Board of Trustees a 
communication was received from Messrs. Fuller- 
ton, Miller, Kingman and Palmer, proposing to 

[81] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

convey to the College certain properties in Clare- 
mont, on conditions which appealed strongly to 
them. A committee consisting of Messrs. Hunt, 
Bent and Blanchard was appointed to see the 
property, consider the proposition in detail and 
report to the Executive Committee. The Exec- 
utive Committee, together with this special com- 
mittee, was empowered to act in all matters grow- 
ing out of the negotiations. The result of the 
examination and conference was the deeding to 
Pomona College of what was known as ^^ Hotel 
Claremont,'' a building which had cost twenty- 
two thousand dollars, with the block of land on 
which it stood, the block east of it, and two hun- 
dred and sixty lots in the town laid out and named 
* * Claremont. ^ ' The conditions were: a college 
note, without interest, for five thousand dollars, 
to be paid by a small percentage of the price of 
lots actually sold, and the agreement to maintain 
within the limits of Claremont some department 
of the college work. The transaction was felt to 
be a very great boon to the College just at this 
time. For it had been found impossible to com- 
plete the Central Building in time for occupancy 
at the fall term, when it was felt to be important 
that the College open ; and moreover the further 
collection of subscriptions at this time was prac- 
tically impossible. 

The transaction had a far-reaching importance 
not even thought of at the time. Work on the 

[82] 



THE COLLEGE SITE 

Central Building was at once discontinued, and 
never resumed. Two years later, under Presi- 
dent Baldwin's administration, the idea was con- 
ceived of abandoning the original site altogether, 
and making Claremont alone the permanent home 
of the College. In the winter of 1892-93 a spe- 
cial meeting of the Board of Trustees was called, 
and the question of location was very fully dis- 
cussed. The discussion was on the question, 
^'Should the Preparatory School be wholly sep- 
arated from the College Department T' Though 
academic in form, the question was understood to 
involve the whole matter at issue. Dr. McLean 
and others adduced the experience of institutions 
in the Middle "West as against such separation, 
even in the same city or town ; if further removed 
from each other the separation was still more se- 
rious. No one was prepared to dispute the facts 
as presented, while some did not regard them 
as conclusive, and when an informal vote was 
taken there were one blank, four against and 
seven for the permanent union of the two depart- 
ments on the same site. The formal vote stood 
one blank and eleven in favor of such permanent 
union. A vote to abandon the original site 
followed. 

This was the severest test to which the Board 
of Trustees had been subjected. Here was an 
honest difference of opinion as to the wisest pol- 
icy. Some felt that it was better to give up 

[83] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Claremont than Piedmont. At least College and 
School might remain separate for a few years. 
It was even better to drop the Preparatory School 
than to give up Piedmont. 

It is a fact of supreme significance that unanim- 
ity of action was secured. The sacrifice of long- 
cherished ideals on the part of some of the 
trustees was not a light matter. It was very dif- 
ficult for them to see how, by any conceivable 
possibility, the exchanging of the ideal location 
at Piedmont for Claremont could be in the long 
run to the interest of a cultural college. It 
seemed like sacrificing the College to the inter- 
ests of the Preparatory School. 

The possibility of dropping the Preparatory 
Department had not then been discussed ; but the 
question naturally arises at this time whether, if 
the trustees could have anticipated the dropping 
of the Preparatory School so soon, the decision 
would have been the same. It was understood 
that a complication in the title influenced the 
votes; with how much reason is not so certain. 
The College restored the Piedmont land to Mr. 
Palmer, with some compensation for damage 
done. 

For four years the foundations remained in 
statu quo. The Pomona class of 1895 quietly ob- 
tained the corner-stone, had it properly inscribed, 
and set it upon seven stones — representing the 
number of members in the class— near its pres- 



THE COLLEGE SITE 

ent situation just south of the Library. The con- 
tents of the box imbedded in the corner-stone were 
preserved, and were put with the other documents 
into the corner-stone of the Library. 

A really serious drawback followed this im- 
portant action (the change of site) owing to the 
fact that the subscriptions made at the time of 
the location of the College were all based on that 
particular location. When the site was formally 
changed, some, undoubtedly influenced by hard 
times, refused to recognize their subscriptions, 
and a few who had already paid demanded return 
of their money. These demands were complied 
with, though necessitating an increased indebted- 
ness in addition to the giving up of valuable lands. 
There were a number of notable exceptions. On 
the whole, vv^hatever the material sacrifices, the 
change cost the College no real friends. How 
far there was any actual compensation for the 
material and esthetic loss may never be answered 
to the satisfaction of all concerned. The Board 
of Trustees, however, was a large and intelligent 
body, and acted with full deliberation, and it is 
believed under divine guidance. The Pomona of 
today is the outcome. Let all rejoice. 



[85] 



CHAPTEE VII 

PEEPAEATOEY WOEK 

In order that the College might open in the 
autumn of 1888, as the Board of Trustees had di- 
rected, it became necessary, since the Central 
Building could not be completed in time, to se- 
cure accommodations in Pomona. For this pur- 
pose a cottage of five rooms, on the corner of 
White Avenue and Fifth Street, was engaged. 
The grounds were spacious, affording lawns, flow- 
ers and shrubs, with shade, fruit and ornamental 
trees. A vine-covered arbor furnished a much- 
needed extra recitation room. The hedges an- 
swered for vaulting bars for boys and girls, and 
the broad street was a much-used race track, also 
for both sexes. The double parlors made a good 
assembly room, and the kitchen with its stove and 
sink was the laboratory for scientific study. The 
furnishing was scanty, including only the essen- 
tials, as chairs and tables of the cheapest sort. 
There were no carpets, curtains or pictures, nor 
even the semblance of desks or platforms. Hap- 
pily heat, save that from the kitchen stove, was 
not considered a necessity. 

The teachers had been selected with great care. 

[ 86 ] 



PEEPARATORY WOEK 

Professor Norton — already having the title of 
'^Professor" — brought strong commendations. 
Professor Brackett, who had declined several im- 
portant openings in the East to come to Southern 
California, had been teaching a private school 
in Pomona in anticipation of this event, and now 
brought his students with him as a nucleus for 
the new college. Mrs. Storrs had proven her 
ability in a Young Ladies * School in Los Angeles. 
Miss Blades had spent some years in study in 
Germany. Both the other teachers were well 
known and approved in their profession. 

A general announcement of the opening of the 
College was made on a large single sheet, with a 
cut of the Central Building covering the upper 
half. This was followed later by a four-page 
prospectus, the first page of which read thus : 

An Unsectarian Christian College for the Edu- 
cation of Both Sexes. 

First Term Begins September 12th, 1888. 
FACULTY 



President. 
Eev. E. C. Norton, M. A., 

Principal of the Preparatory Department 
and Teacher of Greek. 
F. P. Brackett, B. A., 

Teacher of Mathematics and Latin. 

[87] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Mrs. H. A. Storrs, 

Teacher of English and Science. 
Miss Edith Blades, 

Teacher of German. 
Miss Coribel Stites, 

Teacher of Drawing and Painting. 
Miss Mamie Caldwell, 

Teacher of Piano, Harmony and Theory. 

On the next two pages the courses of study were 
laid down and the necessary expenses stated, and 
on the last page were the names of the members 
of the Board of Trustees and a calendar for the 
school year. 

It was on a clear, bright, auspicious morning 
that the various interested parties wended their 
ways from widely separated regions to the un- 
pretentious assembly room to have a part in the 
opening exercises of the new college. There 
were trustees and faculty and parents, together 
with the student body, all led by a vision 
but dimly and partially understood. It was a 
thoughtful, serious-minded company. There were 
no children among the students: nearly all were 
fully grown young men and women, mature 
enough to have minds of their own. A few of 
them had already begun preparatory work for 
college ; three were of college standing. 

Dr. Harwood was introduced, on behalf of the 
Board of Trustees, to conduct the chapel exer- 

[88] 



PEEPARATORY WORK 

cies. He read from the Psalms the passage be- 
ginning, ^^ Except the Lord build the house they 
labor in vain that build it,'' and led in prayer. 
He then, speaking briefly of the importance of the 
occasion, characterized the College as indeed ^^ but 
a poor, weak little sapling as yet; but,'' he con- 
tinued, *'it will grow, and yield fruit and spread 
its influence as long as time shall last." 

Mr. Thomas Barrows, from the Ojai Valley, 
whose two children were among the students, 
gave expression to his hearty congratulations and 
his large hopes for the future. Mr. Sumner 
spoke of the significance of the occasion as a way- 
mark in the realization of a great purpose formed 
under divine guidance and carried forward, 
through strenuous efforts and in the face of diffi- 
culties, for the furtherance of Christian civiliza- 
tion. The students were then enrolled and classi- 
fied, and the way was open for scholarly work. 

One of the students present, who graduated 
several years later and is now a Christian teacher 
in China, referring to Dr. Harwood's simile, says, 
^^I am proud to have been one of the illustrious 
band who had a hand in the important function 
of planting the tree. It was the greatness of the 
occasion that overpowered us, I think, rather than 
the magnificence of the spectacle. For there was 
no magnificence." 

Evidently this was no ordinary occasion like 
the simple opening of a private school. There 

[89] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

was an indescribable feeling, a sense of awe, ap- 
parently felt by all, which gave to it a signifi- 
cance of its own. And yet who of those present, 
even those who had given the most time and 
thought to the institution and were the most op- 
timistic, had any adequate conception of the real- 
ity so obvious at the end of twenty-five years? 

Even as there was a mysterious sense of some- 
thing more in this occasion than that which ap- 
peared, so in the following days there was ever 
present in the student body and the teaching 
force, in the very atmosphere of the institution, 
this same sense of the greater in the less, the 
small beginning of something yet to be. Every 
one seemed to havea semi-consciousness of the 
future. This was manifest in an enthusiasm 
wholly unaccountable otherwise in these plain and 
narrow surroundings with nothing to appeal to 
eye or ear. And when it was noised abroad that 
the College actually had a hall of its own await- 
ing the following term, the enthusiasm rose to a 
high pitch. Strangely enough among young peo- 
ple, this enthusiasm did not wane, but rather 
grew with the weeks of waiting and preparation. 
There gradually came over all a pervasive sense 
of ownership. Claremont Hall was *^our Hall," 
subject to no man^s behest. This gave a feeling 
of permanence and of large promise to the 
College. 
The impulse given by the acquisition of a home 

[90] 



PEEPARATORY WORK 

was widely felt. The College began to attract 
more attention. New scholars came, and this 
first term, in a hired house, was a success. Its 
success, however, was not so much in itself, in a 
single term of school; it was in its educative and 
formative work, in crystallizing the nucleus of a 
college, and in developing confidence in the Col- 
lege. Probably not more than half a dozen of the 
students had previously any definite purpose of 
taking a college course of study. Association is 
a strong bond, and happily the few who were de- 
cided positively on a college course were strong, 
leading characters from Christian families. 
But more than all else was it this common, uni- 
versal enthusiasm for what was to become a great 
institution which drew and held the students. It 
was during that first term, and has ever been, one 
great source of Pomona ^s strength. In Novem- 
ber of that year the ^^ Pomona Progress'' said: 
*^The bricks for the Congregational College in 
Pomona are being rapidly made and the first kiln 
will be ready for burning in a few days. The in- 
terest in this institution is increasing each day, 
and its success is more and more assured.'' 

Before the term ended plans were discussed for 
a literary society, for a paper, for a Christian 
Association and for athletics; in fact, for nearly 
the whole gamut of college activities. 

The enthusiasm of the first term itensified went 
with the College to its home in Claremont, in spite 

[91] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of the crudeness of the new surroundings there. 
It is a matter of interest psychologically to note 
the apparent obliviousness of students, teachers 
and friends to the excessive rawness, unattrac- 
tiveness, inconvenience, and absolute hindrance 
to good work found in this new home in a literal 
wilderness. Accustomed, as many were, to all 
the refinements and esthetic surroundings of the 
highest civilization, no one seemed to think, much 
less to speak, of the trials and hardships or any 
of the unpleasant experiences thrust upon them. 
It was like a party in the woods preparing a 
camp. Every one was looking forward to the 
good times and felt a measure of responsibility 
in getting all in readiness for the future. There 
was no shirking, no grumbling; every one was at 
his best, with good cheer and high hopes. It was 
no light matter to be making precedents for the 
coming institution. All aspired to have a part in 
it, and every one assumed that every other one 
shared in the aspiration. The absolute oneness 
was often surprising; it embraced trustees, 
teachers, students, housekeeper, business man- 
ager, accountant, parents. Mrs. Buffington and 
her daughters, Mrs. Link, Miss Eoberts, Mr. 
Strobridge, were — yes, and are — in their own 
minds and in the minds of others as much a part 
of this growing institution as were and are the 
august officials. The students at ** Harmony 
HalP* table or in Sumner Hall dining-room, at 

[92] 



PEEPAEATOEY WOEK 

^^ Sycamore Lodge'' or at the ^ ^ Bungalow, ' ' on 
the playground or in the recitation room, all 
were building foundations, forming precedents; 
all were looking for great things to come. Crude- 
ness must be overcome, difficulties surmounted, 
inconveniences endured by teacher and taught. 
Better days were coming. ^^Lend a hand'' was 
the motto. 

Self-imposed fines at the tables or on the play- 
grounds were common in the interests of hall or 
parlor or athletic field. Volunteers were ready 
to hang paper or to paint floors, to pull weeds, 
cut cactus or pick up stones. The whole institu- 
tion outside and inside was a mutual affair. As 
one after another of teachers or friends acquired 
homes of their own, near or more remote, these 
homes and hearths were very like common prop- 
erty. On Thanksgiving and other holidays the 
homes w^ere filled, the college hall was empty. 

An integral part of the institution for several 
years was the free college bus, which carried pas- 
sengers to and from Pomona or North Pomona, 
as the case might be. This was a unique affair. 
It was bought at second hand with subscriptions 
secured one afternoon in Pomona. The College 
owned only one horse; a second was borrowed, 
sometimes from a professor, often from Mr. 
Thomas Barrows. The professors' horses had 
been bought cheaply, or donated by kind-hearted 
persons who wished to give them an easy old age 

[93] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

because they had been worn out by faithful serv- 
ice and were more or less spavined, knock-kneed 
or otherwise ill-disposed in body or brain ; so the 
drivers were put on their honor to handle them 
with care. They were known by supposedly 
characteristic names, as Rarus, Mephistopheles, 
Cleopatra, Gladstone, Bismarck; and the arrival 
of the bus was heralded by the names of the 
horses attached, and was a great event. One 
well-authenticated romance, at least, is connected 
with the bus. 

In those days, so seriously looking to the fu- 
ture, there was no lack of fun, whether spontane- 
ous or prearranged. Some of the teachers were 
little older than their pupils, and they mingled 
freely together. There was no want of dignity, 
however, neither any demand for dignity. In- 
deed, all the most serious work of the College 
was entered into just as heartily as these mat- 
ters of minor importance to the college life. The 
first class realized the full prominence of scholar- 
ship, and with the other undertakings this was 
not neglected. The highest standards were 
maintained. 

One of the first college organizations was the 
Christian Association, which was a real force 
from the outset, a good preparation for the 
Young Women's Christian Association and 
Young Men's Christian Association. Then two 
literary societies came into being, one of them 

[94] 



PBEPARATOHY WORK 

having a printed constitution and by-laws the first 
year. The Library was started in earnest, and 
had its place, with some hundreds of volumes and 
a librarian, at the beginning of the second year. 
A college paper was published in 1889, brimful 
of loyalty and inspiration for everything good 
and great; and every one was expected to, and 
practically every one did, subscribe for it. Nor 
did athletics lack more or less organization and 
push from the entire student body. It is sug- 
gestive, to note how fully every one recognized 
his responsibility for each function and each 
event. Loyalty demanded each one's support 
and presence when called for, whether or not 
he was personally interested in the particu- 
lar form of activity and whether it was conven- 
ient or inconvenient for him to give it his 
support. 

The closing exercises of the first year, al- 
though only two or three college students, with 
the pupils of the first and second years of the pre- 
paratory school, participated in them, assumed 
the importance of a commencement. Rev. E. E. 
P. Abbott gave the address. There was a prize 
debate, and every one was present, of course, 
brought friends, and remained through the 
reception. 

It is surprising what can be accomplished by a 
few persons filled with enthusiasm and living in 
the vision of a great future. In addition to the 

[95] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

activities already enumerated, the year 1889, be- 
fore its close, produced a really creditable glee 
club, which gave a series of concerts. Many re- 
member *' Romeo and Juliet," the latter repre- 
sented by an amazingly deep double bass voice, 
the former by an equally delicate falsetto. The 
effect was convulsive. Musical receptions were 
inaugurated, and a high-grade concert was given 
in the Pomona Methodist Church in the interest 
of the Library. 

Early in its history Pomona was placed upon 
the list of the Congregational Education Society 
— an encouragement and stimulus to the friends 
of the College. 

Another event, not so great in itself, but in its 
spirit and timeliness really helpful, was the pres- 
entation to the College of a United States flag, 
with a happy address, by Mr. W. H. Holabird. 
The gift was repeated from time to time, and the 
national flag, occasionally alternating with the 
Pomona pennant, floated on the breeze above 
Holmes Hall nearly every day of the college sea- 
son for twenty years, until the class of 1911, 
through the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Lumber Company, 
presented a very fine, tall pole which was planted 
in the midst of the campus; and when it was 
raised Mr. Holabird yet again appeared with an 
elegant flag, and thrilled every one in the audi- 
ence gathered to receive it with his ardent patriot- 
ism. Such gifts are appreciated by students and 

[96] 



PEEPAEATOEY WOEK 

friends, and who shall say how much they con- 
tribute to loyalty and good citizenship? 

The work of willing hearts and willing hands in 
the transforming and beautifying of the college 
campus was facilitated during the first term at 
Claremont by the observance of the 22d day of 
February as Arbor Day. Invitations were sent 
out by the students and by letter to those living 
in the vicinity, and a surprisingly large concourse 
of people assembled on the grounds in the morn- 
ing, each one bringing a contribution of trees, 
shrubs or plants, ready for setting out or already 
potted. Tools were at hand, and all engaged in 
the work of planting in accordance with plans al- 
ready prepared. Many trees were memorials; 
some represented families or organizations; two 
or three were planted with special exercises. At 
noon all partook of a basket lunch, after which, 
assembled in front of the Sumner Hall porch, the 
company listened to inspiring addresses. Presi- 
dent S. C. Bartlett, D.D., LL.D., of Dartmouth 
College, drew a vivid picture of contrast between 
this scene in midwinter under sunny skies and in 
the midst of orange groves, and the first winter at 
Dartmouth, in the deep snows and primeval for- 
ests of New Hampshire. President J. W. Strong, 
D.D., LL.D., of Carleton College, told of the be- 
ginnings of his college on the prairies of Minne- 
sota in the early days of their settlement. Very 
many of the trees, shrubs and vines planted at Po- 

[97] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

mona that day have never been disturbed, and by 
constant care have grown so as to give the beauti- 
ful surroundings of Sumner Hall at the present 
time. 

The anniversary exercises of the second year 
were marked by the annual sermon, which was 
preached by Rev. L. P. Voorhees at Pilgrim 
Church, Pomona, and by the anniversary address, 
which was delivered by Rev. A. H. Currier, D.D. 

The advent of the first college president was an 
event of supreme importance at this time, and a 
new dignity was given to the institution at the be- 
ginning of the third year by the formation of a 
freshman college class of seventeen, in addition 
to the three well-filled preparatory classes. The 
days of childhood were fast passing away; the 
days of the larger, fuller life were dawning. The 
first really organized college class quickly took on 
itself the heavy responsibility of making prece- 
dents for the great institution yet to be, and for 
unnumbered years to come. Many were the in- 
quiries about other institutions, and serious con- 
ferences were held as to what was fitting and 
what was not fitting, what of the past should be 
preserved, what should be abandoned, and what 
made over to suit the new conditions. The Po- 
mona College Literary Society at once became a 
college society. The ^^ Pomona Student'' took on 
a new importance. It became the ** Student Life 
of Pomona College. ' ' An athletic association was 

[98] 



PREPAEATOEY WORK 

fully organized, Field Day was established, and 
intercollegiate relations were entered into. 

With these changes began to grow up a sepa- 
ration of the College from the Preparatory De- 
partment. It seemed not fitting that college stu- 
dents should be subject to the same restraints as 
young preparatory pupils. A ten o'clock retire- 
ing rule, with other restrictions, was irksome. 
Many were the discussions among students and 
faculty, in the attempt to find the true mean, best 
for the College. 

Right here is suggested an important fact his- 
torically in the development of the distinguishing 
personality of Pomona. She had a prenatal life ; 
also forbears and progenitors, as has been seen. 
But, more than that, she was not born a full- 
fledged college. For two years she was being ed- 
ucated up to the college life. Seven of the first 
class to graduate, and the nucleus of every class 
for twenty years, were prepared for college by 
her. The college teachers were the preparatory 
teachers. They had the training of these boys 
and girls during a preparatory period of from 
two to four years, before they took up college 
work. No one will question that this experience 
had something to do with the development of Po- 
mona's character. It had to do with the making 
and the forming of early traditions, and with the 
hold of these traditions on the early alumni. 

Consider, for instance, Pomona's tradition of a 

[99]. 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

faculty-college — ^^No autocrat, but one voice 
among many.'^ The fact that this tradition goes 
back to the almost exclusively preparatory days 
when the schoolmaster was supposed to reign — 
when there was not only no president, but the 
principal of the Preparatory Department, even if 
he had wished it, was not allowed autocratic 
power — gives it particular force with faculty and 
alumni and outside friends. Nothing is resented 
more quickly than the least tendency to treat the 
members of the faculty as ^^ hired men."' Are 
they not a part of the College? Their hearts are 
in it. Many of them have suffered for it, given 
of their substance, of themselves, to it; they are 
builded into it. Others quickly kindle with the 
same enthusiasm. 

This is equally true of the Christian phase of 
college life. It was born in it and has been bred 
into it in the days of childhood and trial and I 
struggle for dear life. Without it there had been 
no Pomona. Neither can there be Pomona with- 
out it. 

The college chapter. First Corinthians 13, and 
the college hymn, ^^How Firm a Foundation," 
have become endeared to the great body of the 
alumni by an experience of four, six, seven, or 
even eight years. In like manner *^The Heavens 
Declare the Glory of God'' and *^The Spacious 
Firmament on High" will always call to mind 
Pomona's astronomer. Thus among the college 

[100] 



PREPAEATOEY WOEK 

traditions are many that are rooted back in pre- 
coUege days; others grew up later, during the 
days of the Preparatory Department; all tended 
to bind the earlier alumni together with firmer 
and more enduring bonds. Far from decrying 
the past in entering upon the actual college life, 
the ^'Student Life'' is found urging on prepara- 
tory and college students alike love and loyalty 
* * as an important part of true college spirit, ' ' and 
quoting the familiar testimony of Daniel Web- 
ster's love for Dartmouth College, his Alma 
Mater: *^This is, sirs, a small institution. It is 
one of the lesser lights of this broad land ; and yet 
there are those who love it." 

It was in 1896 that the three years of prepara- 
tory study gave place to the four years ' course as 
the requirement for admission to the College. 

In 1907-08, when the establishment of a high 
school in Claremont was contemplated, a commit- 
tee of the college faculty conferred with the city 
school board, and it was agreed to open the high 
school for the first year's course of study only, 
and to increase the course one year at a time, 
Pomona dropping the successive years of the pre- 
paratory course accordingly. But when the high 
school was opened the demand came for the re- 
ception of the four classes at once, and the law 
compelled compliance with the demand. There- 
fore Pomona ceased to take new pupils for pre- 
paratory work, caring thenceforth only for those 

[101] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

who had already entered the course and wished to 
complete it. 

The discontinuance of the preparatory work 
was objected to by some of the friends of the Col- 
lege, but all in all it seemed the wise action, and 
was definitely determined before the city took 
steps to establish a high school. The complete- 
ness of the state provision for high schools, and 
the character of the work required in these 
schools, was such that little occasion remained for 
a college preparatory department. Then, too, 
the presence of preparatory students in the same 
institution is felt by many to be a drawback, and 
is resented by the great body of college students. 
The College made a strong advance in numbers 
immediately after the preparatory school was 
finally dropped. The absence of these younger 
pupils, perhaps especially in a coeducational 
school, simplifies a great many problems which 
come before a college faculty. 



[102] 



CHAPTER VIII 

MUSIC AND ART 

It is embarrassing in these later days to sepa- 
rate two esthetic studies from the general curric- 
ulum of a cultural college and treat them by 
themselves. And yet there are reasons for such 
a separation in this history. It is only in recent 
years that these studies have been introduced into 
the curriculum of the first-class college. Even 
now some colleges which claim to be first-class 
make no general provision for them. Indeed, few 
academic courses require any considerable 
amount of either music or art. For the most part 
these subjects in the past, if taken at all, have 
been regarded as extras, and optional ; if desired, 
to be applied for and paid for. The teachers in 
these departments have not been graded as other 
teachers are graded. 

From the outset Pomona has considered both 
music and art as important to true culture, and 
has made them accessible to her students. Very 
early she made certain work in these branches 
free to those who chose to engage in it. More 
than this, she has sought by various methods to 
cultivate the taste in both directions. At the 
same time she did not venture to put much, if any, 

[103] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

money into these departments. They must sup- 
port themselves in large measure. They were 
not in the curriculum in the same sense as mathe- 
matics and the languages. Pomona's action was 
based on the theory that they were important, but 
not essential. There has been, however, during 
this last quarter-century a steadily-growing sense 
of their value, and more willingness to give them 
a place. This growing prominence, due in part 
to the general trend, and in part to the marked 
development of these branches of study in the 
immediate surroundings, is a matter of educa- 
tional interest. It is the story at Pomona of the 
incorporation of two esthetic departments into 
the body of a cultural college. The various stages 
of progress invite special attention. 

Music 
Vocal and instrumental teachers for private 
pupils have always been provided. This has 
given music a part in the college life. It never 
has been wanting, and at times has been a recog- 
nized force. The Choral Union, designed to give 
wide instruction in the best of music, was formed 
during the second year of Pomona's existence. 
This organization, open to all and under the di- 
rection of a leader, insists on the thorough mas- 
tery of the best oratorios and other choral music. 
With the aid of trained singers available in the 
region, and a trained orchestra, it gives concerts 

[104] 



MUSIC AND ART 

once, twice or three times annually. These fa- 
miliarize the student body and community with 
good music and bring before them expert per- 
formers, vocal and instrumental. By reason of 
this educational process the very best music 
comes to be sought and obtained on occasion ; in- 
deed the occasion is frequently made for it, and 
the education goes steadily on. 

Few students in the regular courses fail to ac- 
quire some taste for and appreciation of fine mu- 
sic. By far the greater number learn to take 
some part, with others, in rendering it. The mu- 
sic in the daily chapel service and in the Sunday 
services, emphatically in the training of the 
Church Choir, — a large chorus, — helps the proc- 
ess. The Men^s Glee Club, too, one of the early 
organizations, which continues to the present day, 
by its very thorough drill, high ideals and widely- 
extended practice, is a further uplift in this direc- 
tion. A part of the time a Women's Glee Club 
has done a similar work. Class recitals and lec- 
tures have been helpful. 

Professor Brackett, with his fine, sympathetic 
voice, drilled the Choral Union and the Glee Club 
for three or four years. Professor Bissell, the 
musical genius of the faculty, who also supple- 
mented the Music Department for a time as leader 
of the Choral Union and the Glee Club and as 
voice trainer, and other members of the faculty, 
have been an educative force in addition to the 

1105] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

regular teachers of music. Miss Caldwell (now 
Mrs. Smith), Miss Fitch, Mr. Brannan with his 
charming violin, and Mrs. Brannan with her con- 
scientious and indefatigable piano work, did good 
service in that department. 

Then came John Comfort Fillmore, M.A., to be 
the head of the Music Department, and instructor 
in piano-playing, harmony, counterpoint, compo- 
sition and the history of music. Here was a 
great accession to the music force. Mr. Fillmore 
was an educated man, a scholar and author of 
repute, and an investigator. He had been for 
twelve years the director of the Milwaukee School 
of Music. His ^ ^ History of the Piano-forte * ' and 
^^Folk Music" are of recognized worth. In his 
study of Indian music he did original work of 
permanent value. His commanding ability, 
broad culture and unceasing fidelity, manifest in 
his teaching and lectures at Pomona and in the 
vicinity, made his influence strong and of far- 
reaching character. Music became more than an 
accomplishment; he lifted it into a broad and 
honorable profession. Music has meant more to 
the College because of Mr. Fillmore. *^ Student 
Life'' says of him: *^The death of Professor 
Fillmore is an irreparable loss not only to Po- 
mona College but to all scholarly attainment and 
culture. It is doubtful if there is another who 
can take his place in the study and research of 
aboriginal music. But especially severe is the 

[106] 



MUSIC AND AET 

loss to Pomona, where, as director of music for 
the past three years. Professor Fillmore has held 
the esteem and love of every student. We hon- 
ored him for his great ability, we were proud of 
his reputation; but we loved him for his great 
heart. We were cheered by the bright sunshine 
of his character; we were cheered by his little 
acts of kindness.'^ 

A fine portrait of Mr. Fillmore was presented 
to the College by the class of 1899, with a happy 
address by Mr. C. F. Lummis of Los Angeles, a 
personal friend. 

Not the least of Mr. Fillmore 's services was in 
the securing of able assistants. The Jennison 
brothers, instructors in violin and violincello, are 
instances, Mr. Samuel Wellington Jennison teach- 
ing in 1898-99, and Mr. Paul Jennison from 1899 
to 1907. They were rare teachers as well as de- 
lightful performers. Their connection with the 
College for nine years was constantly inspiring 
and uplifting. 

Mrs. Evangeline White Hardon, niece and as- 
sistant of Mr. Fillmore, continued most accept- 
ably as instructor in voice for three years after 
his death. 

Up to this time the management and control of 
the students and the finances of the Music De- 
partment had been in the hands of the head of 
that department. But now the music teachers 
were placed on the same basis as other members 

[107] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of the faculty. This was a step in advance, and 
indicated a changed attitude toward the Music 
Department. Music had become an integral part 
of the college work. It was rated on an equality 
with other studies. 

Mr. Dwight Chapman Eice, a graduate of Ober- 
lin College and instructor in music there, and 
later for several years head of the Music De- 
partment at Carleton College, followed Mr. Fill- 
more and gave excellent satisfaction in the 
department of the piano. He was respected and 
beloved as a man and as a teacher. He continued 
with the work for three years, and resigned to 
take charge of the music at Occidental College. 

Mr. William Irving Andruss, B.A., was direc- 
tor for one year, and Mr. Theodore John Irwin 
followed for one year as director, continuing for 
two years more as instructor in piano, harmony 
and history of music. 

During this period Miss Kate Condit (Mrs. S. 
J. Brimhall, deceased) came to the College as in- 
structor in piano and voice, and did some teach- 
ing in German. For ten years Miss Condit 
served the College most faithfully and most sat- 
isfactorily. No one in the history of Claremont 
has been called upon so frequently during so long 
a period to serve the College and the community 
as an accompanist or in playing alone for enter- 
tainment. No one could have served more cheer- 
fully, and few so satisfactorily. 

[108] 



MUSIC AND AET 

In 1902 Mr. Fred A. Bacon of Los Angeles 
came to Claremont several times a week as in- 
structor in voice. The next year he was made 
director of music, and still retains that position. 
Mr. Bacon's coming marked another era in the 
history of the Music Department. He brought 
with him a high reputation as instructor and 
as choral leader. His presence gave confidence 
and inspiration. The whole department assumed 
new life and efficiency. The choral work at- 
tracted attention far and near. The rendering 
of the famous oratorios drew large and apprecia- 
tive audiences. Special trains brought music- 
lovers from other cities to enjoy these concerts. 
Through his wide acquaintance Mr. Bacon was 
enabled to secure excellent musicians as instruc- 
tors in his department and as soloists for the ora- 
torios. In form and in fact music has become a 
recognized power in student life. The frequent 
recitals of pupils and teachers are attractive. 
The occasional faculty recitals are a real treat to 
lovers of music, and are of educational value. In 
1912 Mr. Bacon was made professor of applied 
music. 

Mr. Bacon has had notable assistants. Some of 
them have been great favorites on the platform, 
and their solos in the oratorios have never been 
surpassed in Claremont. Mr. Robert Martin 
Staples, who came as instructor in violin in 1907, 
had then a superior touch, and he has improved 

[ 109 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

with each year since. In the summer of 1912 he 
had the very best instruction Germany could give 
him, and pupils and audience alike feel the signifi- 
cance of his new inspiration. Mr. Staples com- 
mands a place in the front rank of violinists. His 
profound interest in music, and his indefatiga- 
ble industry, promise much to his growing 
reputation. 

For a number of years Mrs. Ida Blakeslee as 
pianist was a successful teacher and well received 
in public. She was recognized as an artist, and 
also as a noble Christian woman. Her with- 
drawal from the College, and subsequent illness, 
touched the community deeply and awakened pro- 
found sympathy for herself and her family. In 
her death not only her relatives, but her former 
pupils and a wide circle of other friends met with 
a personal loss. 

Mr. Alfred Applin Butler came as instructor in 
organ, piano and theory in 1908. His musical 
ability and technique have made him an inspiring 
teacher. As a performer he ranks high. His 
musical perception and feeling enable him to con- 
strue the best music with fine effect. It was with 
regret that his resignation was accepted in 1913. 

The ^^Metate" of the class of 1912 gives the 
judgment of the student body in the matter of mu- 
sic: **The enthusiasm and active interest which 
have been apparent in every branch of this depart- 
ment, have been effective in completing another 

[ no ] 



MUSIC AND AET 

successful year for the school of music. Fre- 
quent recitals have been given, the plan being 
followed of having each teacher present his own 
pupils in a distinct recital. During the second 
semester a series of organ recitals has been given 
by Professor Butler, the proceeds to go towards 
the purchase of a new organ for the chapel. The 
Choral Union is one evidence of the efficiency of 
the school of music. The chorus of eighty voices 
under the direction of Professor Bacon, and as- 
sisted by the orchestra with Mr. Staples as con- 
cert master, is continuing to raise the standard of 
excellence with every concert.'' 

From time to time the College has had earnest 
advocates of a strong, independent conservatory 
for the study of music only, as well as to constitute 
a part of the regular cultural course. On the 
whole, however, the prevailing opinion seems to 
be that, like every other department, this should 
aim solely to be a component part of a college for 
cultural discipline. President Blaisdell says: 
^^ Music and artistic appreciation are evidently to 
have greatly increased place in America, and per- 
haps especially in our own locality. The nature 
which is unopened on these sides will be more and 
more sadly provincial. In this view of the situa- 
tion, the resources offered in these lines are part 
of the unique opportunity of Pomona College. 
The cordial cooperation of the officials of the 
school with the college ideal is most pronounced. 

[Ill] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

On the other hand it seems to me that the music 
school should be consistently conceived of as ex- 
isting wholly to contribute its part to the cultural 
life of the College, thus maintaining here and else- 
where the initial intent of the institution. ' ' 

It is a matter of supreme congratulation that 
Pomona is to have, as soon as the work can be 
completed, one of the finest music halls in the 
country for study in the different lines of music. 
It will contain in addition to rooms for instruc- 
tion and for practice an elegant audience room 
adapted at once for a larger or a smaller audience, 
and provided with a fine pipe organ and all 
needed stage equipments. Arrangements are to 
be made for the most approved systems of light- 
ing, heating and ventilating, and the architecture 
without and within is to be rich and appropriate. 

This building is the gift of Mr. and Mrs. A. S. 
Bridges as a memorial of their daughter, Mabel 
Shaw Bridges, a greatly loved and equally es- 
teemed member of the class of 1908, who died in 
her junior year. May 14, 1907, having spent, as 
she said, *'the happiest years of my life at 
Pomona.*' 

Art 

Miss Coribel Stites was Pomona's first teacher 
in art. But little was done in that department, 
however, except in the case of a few special stu- 
dents, until 1893, when Mrs. L. E. Garden-Mac- 
leod, a graduate of the Kensington School of Art 

[112] 



MUSIC AND ART 

and Design, London, and founder and principal 
of the Los Angeles School of Art and Design, 
opened a branch of the latter institution at Po- 
mona College. This arrangement was brought 
about by Mrs. F. P. Brackett, who had studied 
with Mrs. Macleod and was impressed with her 
ability and her proficiency as a teacher. She 
consented to come to Claremont once a week pro- 
vided she should have a class of at least ten stu- 
dents in art. This number was secured and 
maintained by the efforts of Mrs. Brackett for a 
series of years, until other arrangements could be 
made. 

For twelve years Mrs. Macleod came regularly 
and attended to her classes, with increasing in- 
terest and efficiency. At the end of that period it 
was felt necessary to employ a resident teacher, 
that daily instruction might be offered, and Mrs. 
Macleod gave place to Mrs. Hannah Tempest 
Jenkins. The Department and the College owe 
to Mrs. Macleod a debt of gratitude which never 
can be paid, for the thoroughness and excellence 
of her work. With her natural ability, sterling 
character, and completeness as a teacher, added 
to a deep enthusiasm for her work, she placed the 
Department on a strong foundation for future 
development. 

The coming of Mrs. Jenkins to give her whole 
time and thought to the Art Department consti- 
tuted an important event in its history. She 

[ 113 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

had received the best of training and had enjoyed 
unusual opportunities. She was an experienced 
teacher, and brought the highest testimonials 
from Eastern art schools. Her appreciation and 
love of art and her unbounded enthusiasm were 
contagious. She appealed to the students, and 
to lovers of art outside the College. The classes 
grew in numbers and in interest. The effect was 
electric in College and community. All who were 
interested in art, if they could not go to her class- 
room, visited her exhibitions and were attentive 
listeners to her occasional lectures, which were 
given principally to the student body. The good 
work was quickly apparent at her art rooms, 
where some of her own productions, and occasion- 
ally borrowed pictures, were shown, as well as the 
work of pupils. Soon the Rembrandt Club was 
formed, with regular and frequent meetings at 
which excellent papers were read and discussed. 
The Club has grown to over a hundred members, 
and has contributed largely to the interest in and 
knowledge of art and its historic development. 
This widespread interest has brought many art 
helps and treasures, some of great value, and al- 
ready the collection calls for a convenient and 
safe place where it may serve its purposes. Thus 
the need has developed for an art hall, and about 
fifteen thousand dollars has been raised and ex- 
pended in erecting a section of such a building, 
named *^ Rembrandt Hall.'' 

[114] 



MUSIC AND AET 

Mrs. Jenkins spent her sabbatical year, 1912-13, 
in Japan and China, where she enjoyed an un- 
usual and fruitful experience. She has been en- 
abled to secure some especially choice and 
valuable treasures from Japan. Miss Sherrill, 
previously her assistant, a young woman of rare 
artistic ability who has done very creditable work, 
took Mrs. Jenkins ' place satisfactorily during her 
absence. 

Mrs. Jenkins' work has followed the general 
methods of Mrs. Macleod, and has brought the 
Department into still closer union with the Col- 
lege. The lectures, not only of the head of the De- 
partment, but also of others as they are available, 
together with the art exhibits, bring the subject 
constantly before the student body, and few in- 
deed fail to receive something of its cultural 
effect. 



[115] 



CHAPTER IX 

CLAEEMONT 

"With the coming of the Santa Fe line of rail- 
road to Los Angeles, in 1887, very many town 
sites were located in anticipation of an immense 
population that should fill the valley from Los 
Angeles to Redlands and from the mountains to 
the sea. Neither the number of these town sites 
nor their location seemed to have been deter- 
mined by present or prospective demands of busi- 
ness or convenience; the laying out of the land 
was rather a matter of speculation, pure and sim- 
ple. If to the climatic attraction could be added, 
as in the case of Claremont, scenic beauties of 
mountain and valley, these were expected to con- 
tribute to the success of the venture. This valley 
fairly represented nearly all of Southern 
California. 

Many an onlooker felt that the people had lost 
the capacity for reason and sound judgment. A 
successful real-estate dealer was asked: *^What 
ground have you for expecting such hosts of 
people to come to Southern California as you are 
preparing for in city and country ? You are plan- 
ning for millions to settle at once along this valley 
and on the coast. What are they all going to do ? 

[116] 



CLAEEMONT 

You have no manufactures in prospect, no employ- 
ment for those without ranches, save the soil to 
cultivate on these little town and city lots. These 
men, women and children, at least most of them, 
provided they come, must have employment. 
How are they to live without itT' 

The reply was: *^ There are plenty of people 
in the East who do not need to work for a living 
and who wish to live in this climate, to occupy all 
the space that we can provide for them.'' This 
man was honest in his conclusions. He did not 
stop to think further of the necessity of work 
even to the maintenance of civilization. Such 
reasoning was general. Men risked their money 
on it. They would start a new village, or add to 
the one already established, expecting to sell lots 
without reference to business considerations. In- 
deed thousands of such lots were sold, some to 
local residents, some to persons v/hose homes 
were far removed from the State, and even from 
this coast. 

The immediate result of the sale of so many 
city and village lots was disastrous to a very 
large number of persons. Nevertheless the ulti- 
mate benefit to Southern California from the en- 
suing conditions is no longer a matter of question. 
The development has been, both in extent and 
character, truly marvelous. One is inclined to 
think the reliance on future growth was justified ; 
but the fulfillment of expectations confidently 

[117] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

cherished was long delayed, and the consequent 
loss and suffering were great. 

It is interesting historically to note the work- 
ings of this movement, and the motive behind it. 
There is little question that the real motive in 
most cases was money-making, although the ap- 
parent motive was often loyalty to local develop- 
ment, or was even philanthropic in its character. 
The plan adopted was not always the same, but 
in general was something as follows: A small 
number of persons, usually one or more of them 
having interests involved, formed a company or 
corporation, secured options on sufficient land for 
a city of a few thousand people, obtained assur- 
ance of a railroad station with more or less elab- 
orate buildings, provided for a hotel, either built 
or moved upon the grounds a cheap house or two, 
and then advertised widely an auction sale of 
town lots, secured reduced rates of fare for the 
day, and provided a free luncheon and a band of 
music. A crowd was sure to be in attendance. 
Indeed, a line of would-be purchasers was often 
formed hours beforehand; in one case at least 
they stood in line all night, hoping to secure ad- 
vantage in the earlier choice of lots. 

Sometimes a large number of sales was made 
in one of these paper towns, and the lots were 
selected and paid for at prices which are now 
ruling in cities of five or even ten thousand inhab- 
itants. Every purchaser was a speculator, and 

[118] 



CLAREMONT 

frequently lots were resold at an advance before 
the buyer left the grounds. Lots not sold at auc- 
tion were disposed of at private sale, and the orig- 
inal proprietors made money, if no one else did. 
A year or two later, in many cases, these lots 
could hardly be given away. In other cases the 
present owners refuse to sell today under any 
consideration unless paid the amount of the orig- 
inal investment, with compound interest to date, 
although the price ruling for adjacent lots is even 
less than the amount primarily paid. 

There were drawbacks connected with villages 
laid out in this manner and with the ruling motive 
of money-making. The building lots were gen- 
erally fifty by one hundred and. fifty feet. Lots 
in the supposed business section had but a twenty- 
five foot frontage. In a few cases there were 
choice localities in which ^Willa lots'' much 
more pretentious were laid out. But in general 
little regard was had to beauty. 

The town site of Claremont had only one street 
of any considerable length that was over sixty 
feet wide, and that one was eighty feet. The 
single lots were of the usual size in such town 
sites in this region. The surface, except a por- 
tion of the mesa on a part of which the college 
buildings stand, was coarse gravel, or covered 
with stones mingled with cactus and nameless 
chaparral. There were no roads or paths, bar- 
ring one or two crooked wagon roads and rabbit 

[119] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

tracks. The railroad station, the picturesque 
hotel, a single farmhouse and two or three di- 
minutive houses half hidden in the brush consti- 
tuted the material attractions close at hand. No 
other sign of cultivation appeared except a Chi- 
nese garden in an apparently swampy tract half a 
mile distant, while the wilderness pressed 
closely at the north, and the veritable desert 
waste seemed to shut off all approach from the 
east. The possibility of development contribu- 
tory to Claremont, unless on the south side across 
the railroad, looked remote. While there was a 
nominal water supply, for some years this was 
meager and uncertain. 

Even after the College moved to Claremont, 
many, perhaps a little homesick, looked round 
about on the immediate surroundings and pro- 
nounced the scene lonely, desolate, hopeless be- 
yond description. The term ^ ^ beautiful, ' * which 
had been applied to Claremont in the town-site 
advertisement, to them seemed a sarcasm. It 
was said repeatedly that only a vivid creative 
imagination could conceive of this wild desola- 
tion as transformed into an attractive village, 
much less as the permanent abode of a cultural 
college. The place was often referred to as ^ ^ The 
Sage-brush." In athletics the term for the Po- 
mona team was *'The Sage Hens." Verily the 
friends of the College walked by faith, not by 
sight. They lived and wrought for the future, 

[120] 



CLAREMONT 

The eyes and the judgment had to be cultivated 
by Southern California experience and imagina- 
tion to appreciate and work with confidence 
amidst such scenes. 

With all the drawbacks, all that was forbidding, 
there were, however, many attractions. Some of 
the chief requisites for college purposes were 
found here in perfection. Those familiar with 
the climate, the soil and water conditions, look- 
ing beneath the outward appearance, could see 
a hopeful future. The very mountains towering 
above in grandeur and ever-changing colors, with 
their snow-clad peaks telling of fruitful streams 
and scenes of beauty, and the broad rich valley 
below, checkered with ranches already trans- 
formed into harvest fields and stretching as far 
as eye could reach, suggestive of varied and exten- 
sive enterprises bespeaking the coming thousands, 
all were equally an inspiration under which the 
difficulties melted away, discovering great possi- 
bilities that rapidly changed into realities. 

It did not require of one habituated to South- 
ern California supernatural vision to foresee the 
Claremont of the future: these narrow lots dou- 
bled or trebled ; comfortable homes, with wide ex- 
panses of lawn and tropical ornamentation ; these 
primitive roads perfected for travel and lined 
with sidewalks and trees; the small, hemmed-in 
college grounds extended on this side and that 
into an ample campus with appropriate build- 

[121] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE ' 

ings ; a park and unsurpassed athletic field where 
had been a tangled, forbidding wilderness; and 
fruitful orchards pressing the city limits on three 
sides, affording * ' villa lots ' ' vying in beauty with 
the ample grounds of the far-famed New England 
villages. 

It has been, of course, a long, slow process, 
from time to time discouraging and still far from 
complete. Nor were the difficulties all in the field 
of nature. At the outset Claremont was to be 
the seat of the Preparatory Department only. 
It was uncertain when the College proper should 
go to its home in Piedmont. This fact was fatal 
to much growth; for there seemed to be nothing 
other than the College of which to make a town, 
and in times of so great financial depression there 
was little hope of building up two towns. Neither 
the members of the faculty nor those who had 
children to take a college course could afford to 
establish homes at Claremont. Mr. W. H. Hola- 
bird, Mr. Thomas Barrows, Mrs. J. T. Ford and 
Mr. C. B. Sumner were the first to build. Soon, 
with the expectation that Claremont was to be the 
permanent home of the College, Professors 
Brackett, Norton, Colcord, Bissell, President 
Baldwin, and also a few others who had children 
to educate built their homes. 

Most people who built in Claremont did so of 
necessity rather than of free, spontaneous choice. 
For the average person confidence in the future 

[122] 



CLAEEMONT 

hardly rose above surrounding discouragements. 
In fact, the site of the College having once been 
abandoned, the specter of another change was 
always present. Doubtless the hardships which 
the College was passing through rendered the 
future uncertain in the eyes of the average per- 
son. The prevailing feeling that there were too 
many small colleges in this region added to the 
uncertainty. So long as direct efforts were made 
for consolidation with other colleges, as was the 
case two or three times, no one wanted to build 
lest the College should be removed. It was a 
dozen years before all doubt vanished as to the 
future of Claremont, and the really fine conditions 
for beautiful and attractive homes had their le- 
gitimate influence. 

Since that time these requisites for a college 
and for a home have gradually come to be recog- 
nized. Even the term ^^ Claremont the Beauti- 
fuP' does not now seem inappropriate. A more 
delightful, healthful, convenient and comfortable 
all-the-year-round location it would be hard to 
find. Water has been provided, — abundant, pure, 
and with sufficient pressure, — the soil is drained 
easily, malaria is unknown and annoying or nox- 
ious insects are rare. Though the land is cov- 
ered with stones, when they are removed it is 
very productive. The location is sufficiently ele- 
vated and protected from immediate sea breezes 
to escape for the most part the wet and chilling 

[123] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

fogs, while yet the trade winds come freshly over 
the valley with tempering effect on the heat 
throughout the summer. 

Claremont is connected with Los Angeles by 
both steam and electric cars, and by electric cars 
also with Pomona, where are two other through 
lines of travel. It is near the mountains, with 
their charming rides and walks, — along the foot- 
hills, over the summits or up into the canons, — 
affording a change in an hour or two, at pleasure, 
from summer heat to winter snow, from culti- 
vated flower beds to fields of abundant wild flow- 
ers and from dry and glaring streets to mossy 
drives and walks beside overhanging and drip- 
ping rocks. 

Over and above all else, perhaps the one great 
satisfaction and perennial joy is the superb 
mountain and valley view. The eye takes in the 
wonderful ranges with their lofty peaks, their 
lights and shadows and varied coloring, the occa- 
sional glows of brilliance suffusing the whole 
heavens, and shading into ever-changing ethereal 
hues of a richness and delicacy far surpassing un- 
aided human conception. Now it is a single dis- 
tant peak that attracts the attention; again it is 
a near range with its deep indentations, and yet 
again it is a succession of ranges, each with its 
own form, its own coloring. It is an education 
in itself to live in the immediate presence of and 
in intimate touch with a phase of nature which so 

[124] 



CLAREMONT 

appeals to the sense of beauty, of majesty and of 
glory. Students, whether consciously or not, feel 
and respond to such influences, and the alumni of 
Pomona College universally, in spite of all the 
hardships of early days, are fond of Claremont. 
A few of the earliest inhabitants felt its charm 
and had full confidence in its future. Happily a 
number were of the New England type and were 
familiar with the town meeting. As the State 
has no municipal organization for less than five 
hundred inhabitants, Claremont for many years 
had only county government. Hence in order to 
secure unity of action and make necessary and de- 
sirable improvements, a voluntary town-meeting 
agreement was entered into and regular by-laws 
were printed. The citizens were duly notified of 
meetings, and all, men, women and children, 
came together, elected officers and decided by pub- 
lic discussion on policies to be adopted and actual 
work to be done. Money was obtained by sub- 
scription. This organization, following and co- 
operating with a village improvement society 
formed in 1892, has accomplished a great work. 
Claremont very early in its history had the rep- 
utation far and wide of having excellent roads. 
Street trees were planted, sidewalks made, and 
much was done, considering the moderate means 
of the people, both of a temporary and a perma- 
nent character, to improve the village and make it 
attractive. Even after it became an incorporated 

[025] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

city, the Town Meeting retained more or less in- 
fluence, helping to secure unity of action and 
pressing improvement, such as lighting of streets 
and the introduction of gas as well as electricity, 
and securing a permanent water supply. 

The steady growth of the College, around 
which the village was built, in itself graduallj^ 
gave assured confidence in the future of Clare- 
mont. This, together with the evident public spirit 
of its citizens, has made it an attractive place 
for a home. In addition are the numerous ad- 
vantages that cluster around a prosperous col- 
lege. The city and College combined secure a 
surprisingly large number of the entertainments 
of the better class which come to the coast. 
Many, too, appreciate the single large and effec- 
tive church. Christian but not sectarian, in which 
are associated members from churches of twenty 
or more distinct denominations, and which tends 
to bind the community together in a truly demo- 
cratic spirit. The large chorus choir maintained 
by the Church affords valuable weekly drill for 
many students and citizens musically inclined. 

In the early days, seeking to unite College and 
Town in common interests, a literary society was 
formed to whose membership and meetings the 
whole community, except the students, was in- 
vited. It was called **The Cactus Club." It 
still flourishes, meeting every two weeks; one 
meeting is taken up with current events, while 

[126] 



CLAEEMONT 

the next considers some topic in the line of his- 
tory, literature, art or biography. These meet- 
ings are maintained with fresh interest year after 
year. 

The College Library and reading room, as well 
as the college grounds and parks, are always 
open to the citizens ; the Observatory with its tele- 
scope is accessible one evening a month; and an 
invitation is extended to all to attend the chief 
events of academic interest. 



[127] 



CHAPTER X 

PRESIDENT BALDWIN'S 
ADMINISTRATION 

From the time of the organization of the Col- 
lege, the right man for president was diligently 
sought by the Board of Trustees. They had a 
high ideal of the one fitted to take up this work, 
for they had high ideals for Pomona. For three 
years every member of the Board had the matter 
in mind, but no one could be found who was ade- 
quate to the position and willing to take it. At 
length the attention of the secretary was called, 
by letters from the East, to *^ Professor Baldwin'' 
as a candidate for the position. He had just 
come to Los Angeles to help in raising money 
for a new Young Men's Christian Association 
building. 

It was represented that he belonged to a family 
of college presidents. Five of his uncles, one 
brother and two cousins had held that office. In 
his student years he was much in the home of his 
uncle. President Fairchild of Oberlin College. 
His father, Cyrus H. Baldwin, was an early grad- 
uate of Oberlin, and his mother, who died when 
he was very young, was a remarkable Christian 
woman. 

[ 128 ] 




President Cyrus Grandison Baldwin 



PRESIDENT BALDWIN 

Doctor Baldwin was born at Napoli, New 
York, October 10, 1852, and was graduated at 
Oberlin in 1873. While studying at Andover 
Theological Seminary, in the class of 1876, he was 
in close sympathy with Professor E. A. Park, 
worked with him on the * ' Bibliotheca Sacra, ^' 
and sometimes read his lectures before the class. 
Called to Ripon College, he was made professor 
of Latin, and continued for nine years in that 
institution. In 1881 he was ordained to the 
Christian ministry in the Congregational Church. 
Resigning his position at Ripon, he became secre- 
tary of the Iowa Young Men's Christian Associ- 
ation. After four years in this work he resigned 
in order to raise money for the Young Men's 
Christian Association of Des Moines, from 
which work he came to Los Angeles. 

After somewhat extensive correspondence with 
eastern parties in regard to Professor Baldwin's 
candidacy, he was invited to an interview with 
the Executive Committee, to whom the matter 
had been entrusted. The impression was in gen- 
eral very favorable, and he was unanimously 
elected to the presidency. There was some mis- 
giving on the part of two or three by reason of 
a voluntary remark made by him that he came to 
his decisions by a quick intuitive process, rather 
than by the slow process of reasoning. 

The new president came to Claremont in the 
summer of 1890, and with the secretary spent 

[129] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

some weeks in getting acquainted with the peo- 
ple and the conditions in and about the College, 
in preparation for the assumption of his duties 
at the beginning of the fall term. Conditions at 
the time were bad. Eeaction from the activity of 
two years before had set in. Little money was 
in circulation, and business was at a low ebb. 
People were discouraged and many were leaving 
this part of the country. Any ray of hope was 
gladly welcomed. The coming of a president to 
Pomona was evidence of progress. President 
Baldwin, moreover, came with a reputation for 
success in raising money. Every one connected 
with the College was prepared to receive him 
cordially. A college class of seventeen was or- 
ganized. It was a great event and not a little 
enthusiasm was awakened. The president assumed 
the duties of his office at an opportune time and 
was welcomed with loud acclaim. 

Both as a man and as president he was adapted 
to arouse and maintain enthusiasm. He was cor- 
dial, a good mixer, broad in his sympathies; he 
set forth high ideals, was full of zeal for his work 
and forgetful of himself. Moreover, he believed 
in the future of Southern California, believed 
heartily in Pomona College and was most eager 
to have a part in its upbuilding. His inheritance 
and early training, as we have seen, were such 
as to give him the instincts of an educator, while 
his opportunities had fitted him for the work, 

[130] 



PEESIDENT BALDWIN 

and inspired confidence in his leadership. 
Among some of the hard-headed business men of 
the Board of Trustees and the constituency, there 
was a tendency to question his extreme idealism 
and optimism, which were never kept in the back- 
ground. This critical attitude, however, was not 
pronounced. The beginnings were apparently all 
that could be desired. 

In his paper read before the Los Angeles Dis- 
trict Association of Congregational Churches 
during the first term of his administration Pres- 
ident Baldwin gives something of his ideals and 
methods. He says: ^^One teacher is giving five 
hours ' work per day ; others over four ; full work 
for a student is three classes. ... In many of our 
schools the recitations are for thirty minutes only, 
instead of one hour. There is no compensation 
for this loss, and the inevitable result is the low- 
ering of the standards. You do not wish our 
college to pursue a policy of this kind. ... If 
they'' (the trustees) **can secure men worth two 
thousand dollars for one thousand, if those teach- 
ers can be honest on such a salary, you will not 
find fault; but you will not permit them to crip- 
ple the work by reducing the teaching force or 
cutting down the hours of recitation. . . . There 
are two ways of meeting current expenses: the 
one is to have an endowment, and simply draw 
and use the interest. That is easy, and has its 
advantages. The other is to look to one thou- 

[131] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

sand friends of the enterprise for annual gifts 
and annual interest and annual watchfulness. 
From these friends is a strength not to be found 
in millions of endowment. Is it feasible to raise 
a subscription of ^Ye thousand dollars from our 
fifty-four churches, even though thirty-four of 
them are home missionary churches? From a 
long experience in raising money from small 
givers, I answer ^yes' without hesitation.'^ 

There had already been a somewhat widespread 
effort to interest the churches and the young peo- 
ple 's organizations in the College. This work 
President Baldwin took up with zest, and he 
greatly increased the number of annual subscrib- 
ers to the College. The ^ ^ Pomona Student ' ' says, 
in December of that year: ^^ President Baldwin 
has begun his proposed tour of the churches. . . . 
The aim is one thousand subscriptions, but 
that number is likely to be increased to fifteen 
hundred. ' ' 

In a so-called ^'Stockholders' Annual Report'' 
issued in December, 1891, are given the names 
and addresses of over five hundred stockholders, 
.or yearly subscribers to the College, thirty-eight 
churches, and other individual givers. The in- 
teresting of such donors, a work for which Pres- 
ident Baldwin was peculiarly adapted, had it been 
persistently- followed year after year, however 
small the subscriptions, must certainly, by rea- 
son of their number and the sense oi, co-partner- 



PRESIDENT BALDWIN 

ship developed, have resulted in an invincible 
power. Their loyalty and support would have 
proved one of the most successful endowments 
ever possessed by any college. 

The president gained the loyalty, cooperation 
and fidelity of the faculty. Friction might easily 
have arisen with the coming of a recognized col- 
lege authority, since heretofore the faculty had 
acted rather as coworkers. But nothing of 
the kind appeared. From first to last the 
president was in harmony and close sympathy 
with the other members of the faculty. The 
same was generally true with respect to the stu- 
dents. He was the idol of many, and always 
appealed strongly to the student body. Both fac- 
ulty and students cheerfully accepted his internal 
policy throughout his administration, with the ex- 
ception of certain restrictions and limitations 
felt to be narrow and burdensome to the older 
students. Later years have witnessed the modi- 
fication of some of these restrictions, particularly 
since the Preparatory School was dropped. 

Mrs. Baldwin was also a graduate of Oberlin 
and had been a successful teacher before her mar- 
riage. In those first years she was a real helper 
in the classroom and in the faculty discussions. 
Her mind was quick to see, and fertile in devices. 
Term after term she taught successfully, with 
little or no compensation; such pay as she re- 
ceived went back to the College in some way. 

[133] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Greater sympathy with the ideals of Pomona, 
and greater sacrifices to further them, than were 
manifested by both President and Mrs. Baldwin, 
could not have been desired. And sacrifice was 
necessary. 

Pomona was without available resources. At 
least one-half of the expenses must be met by 
gifts, and never was it harder for a constituency 
to raise money. The friends of the College had 
slight incomes and growing families. Churches, 
also, were being built and must be sustained. 
Municipality, county and State, all made their 
demands on the people. Schoolhouses, city halls 
and other public buildings were required, a sys- 
tem of roads was demanded, more extended than 
in any other State in the Union save one. The 
immediate outlook for the College was far from 
bright, while a great and expanding future was 
beckoning on to larger things. No one felt the 
situation more keenly than President Baldwin. 
No one wished more earnestly, alike for his own 
sake, for his family's sake and for the sake of hu- 
manity, to help provide the needed funds and re- 
lieve the situation. It was on his mind day and 
night. Nor was he lacking in expedients. He 
was abundantly fruitful in plans and projects. 

In order to keep in touch with the student body, 
he taught classes in Christian evidences a part, 
of the time for two or three years, most accept- 
ably. There was little occasion for changes in 

[ 134 ] 



PEESIDENT BALDWIN 

the curriculum the first year. Professor Colcord 
had been engaged before the coming of President 
Baldwin. 

The coming of Professor Frederick Starr, 
Ph.D., now of Chicago University, to be profes- 
sor of geology and anthropology and dean of the 
science department, was, however, an event of 
importance. He was an inspiration to the whole 
College. It was with sincere regret on the part 
of the College that he left at the end of the year, 
after but a few months of service, to enter upon 
his present work. 

This same year the College Senate was formed 
and a constitution adopted; high hopes were en- 
tertained of its usefulness in the control of the 
student body. The president of the College was 
its presiding officer, and its action in all cases 
was referred to the faculty. This organization 
as it was conducted elicited much discussion. It 
had a precarious existence for some time, but was 
never a great success. 

The Folk Moot, a combination of students and 
faculty in mass meeting, was occasionally sum- 
moned to discuss college questions. 

The third anniversary was made the occasion 
of the inauguration of President Baldwin. The 
exercises were held in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in Pomona. In addition to the presi- 
dent's address, prayer was offered by Eev. T. C. 
Hunt, Rev. R. G. Hutchins, D.D., spoke on behalf 

[135] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of the Board of Trustees, Professor Norton on 
behalf of the faculty, and Mr. David P. Barrows 
on behalf of the students. The exercises closed 
with prayer and benediction by Rev. L. H. Frary. 
The attendance was large, and great satisfaction 
was manifest in this new relation. 

The necessity for some better means of con- 
veyance between Claremont and Pomona led 
President Baldwin early to conceive the possi- 
bility of using electric power instead of horse 
power. He devised a plan, and worked very hard 
for a long time to bring about its fulfillment. A 
circular was printed explaining it, and asking for 
thirty thousand dollars for the construction of a 
line to Pomona, thirty thousand dollars more for 
a branch to Ontario, and twenty thousand dollars 
for a branch to Chino. The plan contemplated an 
electric railroad, the power coming from storage 
batteries. It never materialized. Evidently it 
was ahead of the time. Today this connection 
from Ontario through Claremont to Pomona and 
thence to Los Angeles is doing good service, and 
is said to have been on a paying basis from the be- 
ginning. The further connection with San Ber- 
nardino is nearly completed. It is, however, a 
trolley road. Not yet is the storage-battery sys- 
tem accepted as practical for railroads. 

President Baldwin soon conceived a project of 
much greater import, to which he gave his time 
very largely for two or three years. This was 

[136] 



PRESIDENT BALDWIN 

the harnessing of the mountain torrent which 
comes down San Antonio Canon and flows with a 
rapid current throughout the year, and the con- 
verting of its momentum into electricity for light 
and power. The electricity was to be conducted 
from the Canon to Ontario and through Clare- 
mont to Pomona. By the profits of this enter- 
prise President Baldwin expected to endow the 
College. It was a great project, and appealed to 
the imagination, especially since it was the first 
of the kind ever placed practically before the 
mind of the scientific world. It promised great 
things for Pomona. President Baldwin believed 
that in carrying through that project he would be 
accomplishing untold benefits for the College. A 
wide and vigorous personal appeal was made to 
the friends of the institution to invest in this en- 
terprise as a source of personal profit, and also 
for the sake of the College. Many did so invest, 
no doubt partly with a view to helping Pomona. 
The following from the *^ Pomona Student," 
supposed at the time to be authoritative, shows 
something of the prevailing expectations: *^The 
prospect of the speedy inauguration of the Po- 
mona College Power Company is excellent. The 
history of the movement will be likely to appear 
in the near future. It is to give Claremont im- 
mediate connection by electric railroad with Po- 
mona, four miles distant, and will furnish lights, 
arc and incandescent, and several hundred horse 

[137] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

power for manufacturing purposes. It seems 
probable that four hundred horse power will be 
used the first year in Pomona and Claremont. 
The idea is simply to use the water of San An- 
tonio Canon to furnish electricity for the valley 
below. * ' 

The ** Prospectus'* puts the matter concretely 
and positively: **The low water is at least one 
thousand inches and the fall three hundred and 
ten feet.'' *^The pipes will be laid with a view 
to using three thousand inches of water, produc- 
ing two thousand horse power." **The proposi- 
tion is to reserve sixty thousand dollars in stock. 
The balance needed is to be raised on first mort- 
gage bonds. After paying current expenses and 
interest on the bonds, this sixty thousand dollars 
is to be paid ten per cent. Of the net surplus to be 
distributed the college is to receive one half. . . . 
The college expects a considerable income from 
its one half of the net surplus." 

It was a great honor to President Baldwin to 
anticipate the scientific world in such a project; 
nevertheless its failure was a disaster to the Col- 
lege. Many blamed the president, and some the 
College through the president. Others made no 
distinction. Pomona was responsible. But per- 
haps the worst result was its effect on the pres- 
ident himself, and on the College through him. 
Whatever the real reason for the failure, whether 
it was lack of business experience or lack of 

[138] 



PEESIDENT BALDWIN 

money, or whether the project was simply one for 
which the times locally were not ready, the result 
was the same. The fact that the plan has since 
been worked out to a success makes little differ- 
ence. The enterprise was heralded so widely, 
promised such great things, was pushed so con- 
fidently, that failure was correspondingly dis- 
couraging and disheartening. President Bald- 
win would have been more than human if he had 
not been profoundly affected by it. 

Later another project of a similar nature, fur- 
ther north, was pursued by him with intense 
interest for a considerable period, but finally 
abandoned. Still another in the southern part of 
the State has occupied more or less of his time 
since he left Pomona. 

A further effect of this venture must be noticed. 
That delicate, impalpable something that throws 
a halo over word and deed — universal, unques- 
tioned confidence — no longer existed. It was in- 
evitable that some, at least, of those who lost 
money in the enterprise should not be able to trust 
implicitly President Baldwin's business judg- 
ment. There were so many of these persons, and 
they were scattered so widely, that the effect 
could hardly fail to be detrimental to a young 
college struggling for its existence amidst great 
drawbacks. 

However, President Baldwin's instincts as an 
educator and a college administrator did not fail 

[139] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

him, as is seen by the active events that accom- 
pany and follow this project. 

The College Seal was discussed and adopted 
July 15, 1891. It is a circle with the words ^'In- 
corporated 1887'' and ^'SeaP' in the center, sur- 
rounded by the words *' Pomona College — Our 
Tribute to Christian Civilization.'' 

In October of this year two contracts were 
brought by the Secretary from Eastern friends, 
for Pomona; one for fifty thousand dollars for 
endowment, and one for twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars for a new hall. This was an event of the 
greatest importance, and a source of much-needed 
encouragement and inspiration to the friends of 
the College. It gave a new sense of security. 

The year 1892 is characterized by the coming 
of two members of the faculty who belong to the 
*'01d Guard," Professors Bissell and Hitchcock, 
the first ultimately to teach modern languages, 
and the second chemistry and physics. Mr. S. H. 
Brackett, who filled the chair of chemistry in the 
academy at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, was asked 
to take the place of Professor Starr for the last 
term of 1892, and in addition to his classroom 
work he gave a series of lectures to the whole stu- 
dent body. 

The Students' Publishing Company was 
formed during this year. To quote from the 
** Student Life," it had *'a guaranteed business of 
from five to eight hundred dollars," and had 

[ 140 ] 



PRESIDENT BALDWIN 

^^the influence of the college behind it/^ For a 
few years this company was helpful, but its equip- 
ment was not kept in repair, and finally became 
worn out and useless. 

In the autumn of 1893 Mr. W. B. Shaw, M.A., 
came to take the place of instructor in political 
economy and history. Mr. Shaw made a favor- 
able impression, but was called away by the death 
of his father, and did not return. There was an 
unfortunate misunderstanding in the business ar- 
rangements with Mr. Shaw, which may have in- 
fluenced his decision. 

The important event of the year 1892-93 was 
the Educational Convention of the Congregational 
Churches of Southern California. It was called 
in the name of the Board of Trustees of Pomona 
College, at the First Congregational Church, Los 
Angeles. The object of the Convention was to 
confer together, thus early in the history of the 
College, that the best ideas of the constituency 
might reach the ears and minds of the Board of 
Trustees, who were nearly all present at this 
meeting. Thirty-six churches were represented, 
together with some representatives from the 
northern part of the State. The Convention con- 
tinued during parts of two days, ten hours in ses- 
sion. There were thirty papers on the program, 
each speaker having selected his own theme. The 
papers were printed and widely distributed and 
some of them were of permanent value. It was 

-[Ml] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

a well-conceived movement, and well carried out. 
The effect was widespread and proved to be of 
lasting benefit. 

A contract was entered into with the Congre- 
gational Education Society about this time which 
has been an invaluable help to the College. 

At the beginning of 1893 the College took a 
new lease of life on entering into possession of 
Holmes Hall. It was an event most thoroughly 
enjoyed by all. Never was such a building more 
needed; never one more fully appreciated. The 
latter part of the year was signalized by the rais- 
ing of the Permanent Guarantee Fund, whose 
object was to cover any possible deficit. The be- 
ginning of the following year was marked by the 
coming to the department of biology of Profes- 
sor A. J. Cook, the last of the ^^Old Guard." He 
was a rare asset to the young college, both with 
the student body and with its constituency. Pro- 
fessor Cook's salary was promised, and paid, for 
the first three years by his father-in-law, Mr. 
C. H. Baldwin. 

The last part of this year and the first month 
of 1894 the College was compelled to make the 
canvass for fifty thousand dollars in order to 
meet the demands of the contract previously se- 
cured by the secretary. This was a very stren- 
uous campaign, and only partially successful. 
The details are given in chapter twenty-seven. . 
c The- gradiiaition of the first college class^ in 



PEESIDENT BALDWIN 

1894, was a great event in the history of the Col- 
lege. It was a matter of pride to have eleven, 
representing seven different states, go forth to 
life's work with the Pomona brand. The Com- 
mencement abounded in congratulations. Pro- 
fessor Cook said, in an article written in this con- 
nection : ^ ' Pomona College is the largest, as it is 
confessedly the best, college in Southern Califor- 
nia. It has just graduated eleven, seven gentle- 
men and four ladies, of whose spirit, scholarship 
and character it is justly proud. There have 
been one hundred and ninety-six students during 
the past year, and there has been a constantly 
growing increase, notwithstanding the unparal- 
leled hard times. The outlook for the future is 
most encouraging." 

Dr. McLean of Oakland said of the College at 
this time: *^The importance of Pomona College 
in our scheme for the higher education in Cal- 
ifornia cannot be overrated. Its location, five 
hundred miles from the two great universities, 
gives it a fine chance for a local constituency; 
while the standing already attained by it com- 
mands respect much more than local. From the 
standpoint of secular education it is regarded by 
our universities as filling a valuable place in the 
appliances of the state; to those of us who take 
a higher view it appears simply indispensable." 

While by reason of the Guarantee Fund there 
was no deficit in the current expenses for 1894- 

[143] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

95, the debt already accumulated remained, in the 
form of personally-signed notes, and the budget 
for the following year was large, looking to the 
reduction of the debt. At a meeting of the 
Board of Trustees held on February 12, 1895, 
Mr. Marston presented a plan for the raising of 
ten thousand dollars additional to the amount re- 
ceived from the regular sources of income, in- 
cluding the Guarantee Fund, and offered to give 
two thousand dollars of this amount himself. 
The meeting adjourned overnight. At the morn- 
ing meeting President Baldwin presented his 
resignation in writing, saying that ^'with his 
present health and courage he could not under- 
take to carry out the plan adopted, as the Board 
wished him to do.'' The resignation was referred 
to a committee consisting of Messrs. Smiley, 
Hunt and Frary, who reported to the Board 
of Trustees, and the report was adopted, as 
follows : 
*^ President of Pomona College, 

^ ^ Dear Sir : We this day having received your 
resignation as president of Pomona College, de- 
sire first of all to express our warm appreciation 
of the spirit you have shown in your relation to 
the faculty, the students, and to our constituency 
at large. We also bear witness that your devo- 
tion and loyalty in all these relations commands 
our gratitude. ^Hiile we recognize the motives 
which led you to this action, we do not see our 

[ 144 ] 



PRESIDENT BALDWIN 

way clear to consummate at present this separa- 
tion which you propose.'* 

The resignation was accordingly left in the 
hands of the Board, but not immediately pressed 
for action. In view of the situation the student 
body sent to the Board of Trustees the following 
minute : 

*' Whereas, the resignation of President Cyrus 
G. Baldwin has been tendered to your honorable 
body to take effect on or before June 26, 1895 ; and 

^* Whereas, the causes operating, so far as we can 
ascertain, do not appeal to us as such as to be nec- 
essarily and finally decisive for such action ; and 

^'Whereas, Pomona College as a Christian col- 
lege stands preeminently for the developing of a 
Christian character and the supremacy of the 
Christian spirit; and 

^^ Whereas, we believe that the personality and 
example of a ripened and symmetrical Christian 
character, supported by breadth of intellect and 
cordial fellowship, is a most important factor in 
attaining this ideal; and 

'^Whereas, we, the student body, feel that any 
course of action tending to sever his present re- 
lation with us would be not only a great source 
of regret and sorrow to us personally, but also, 
we believe, a serious if not inestimable detriment 
to the student body and the student life of this 
institution; and 

** Whereas, we believe that the student body, as 

[ 145 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

one of the important factors in the large success 
of an institution, may justly claim for itself such 
consideration as shall work not only for its har- 
mony and unity, but also for its hearty coop- 
eration in the progress and upbuilding of the 
institution ; be it 

^'Eesolved: That we, the students of Pomona 
College, do hereby express our heartfelt regret 
concerning the recent action of our president 
looking to the severance of his relation with Po- 
mona College, and that we do hereby most ear- 
nestly request your honorable body to make such 
arrangements as shall induce him to withdraw 
his resignation/' 

The October following, a committee consisting 
of Messrs. Blades, Tracy and Frary, appointed 
to consider the relations of President Baldwin to 
the College, reported, and their report was 
adopted, as follows: *'The Board of Trustees 
here assembled, fairly representing, as we believe, 
the entire Board, after full and free discussion, 
hereby expresses its unanimous judgment that it 
is for the best interests of the College that Pres- 
ident Baldwin continue in office, and in that posi- 
tion we pledge him our individual and united 
support.'' 

The amount required by Mr. Marston's plan 
referred to above* was duly raised and his sub- 
scription was paid. 

♦ P. 144. 

[146] 



PRESIDENT BALDWIN 

In the spring of 1895 the question whether a 
member of the faculty other than the president 
should be on the Board of Trustees was discussed 
by the faculty, and a minute was put before the 
Board March 12, 1895, objecting to the principle 
that any one should hold the two positions. 
When this was presented, the secretary presented 
with it his resignation from the Board and the 
appointments connected therewith, together with 
the secretaryship, which was not necessarily de- 
pendent on his membership on the Board. In 
response the trustees, refusing to accept the 
resignation of the secretary, passed the follow- 
ing vote: ^'Resolved: That while this Board is 
in full accord with the action taken by the fac- 
ulty as to the impropriety of having a person a 
member of the Board and also of the faculty, there 
are peculiar conditions attending the case of Pro- 
fessor Sumner that would, in the judgment of the 
trustees, make it unwise to make any change at 
present. The president of the Board is instructed 
to convey this action to the faculty." At this 
same meeting a committee of three was appointed, 
consisting of Messrs. Marston, Sumner and Pres- 
ident Baldwin, to formulate and put into opera- 
tion a financial plan. 

President Baldwin secured some money in the 
northern part of the State. Among other dona- 
tions was one from Mrs. Susan L. Locke. 

Brought into contact with a sick boy while in 

[147] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

San Francisco, President Baldwin, with his char- 
acteristic sympathy and spirit of helpfulness, en- 
deared himself to the lad and his mother. The 
boy died, and the mother, out of regard to Presi- 
dent Baldwin and in memory of her son, pledged 
and duly paid over to the college ten thousand 
dollars. This incident suggests one of Dr. Bald- 
win *s strong points. He had an unusual gift for 
securing and winning the confidence of young 
men. Many a youth was found who never had 
entertained a thought of a collegiate education, 
was brought to the College, and since has been an 
honor to himself and to Pomona. 

Oberlin College in 1896 gave President Bald- 
win the degree of Doctor of Divinity. 

Apropos of subscriptions made to the funds by 
members of the faculty, a minute of the Board of 
Trustees about this time suggests a whole vol- 
ume as to the early history of the College. It 
reads: *^ Resolved, that the Board of Trustees de- 
sire to put on record their hearty appreciation 
of the loyalty, efficiency and sacrifice of the Fac- 
ulty, in the exacting work of the College during 
its continued struggles with adversity; and still 
further in recognition of the hardships to which 
they are subjected by the tardy payment of their 
salaries, all too inadequate for the services ex- 
pected, if promptly paid, and of their voluntary 
assumption of additional burdens, they hereby 
declare their fixed purpose in no wise to tax the 

[14S] 



PRESIDENT BALDWIN 

ordinary income of the College in order to extend 
its work, at least beyond the recommendation of 
the Faculty themselves, until these self-imposed 
burdens are removed, and vexatious delays in 
payment of salaries are no longer necessary/' 

The completion of the canvass* by which sev- 
enty-five thousand dollars was reported as in the 
bank for endowment, in the winter of 1896-97, was 
the occasion of much rejoicing. It was felt to 
be, under all the circumstances, a really great 
achievement, presaging large things for the 
future. 

In the summer of 1897, after seven years of 
service. Dr. Baldwin resigned the presidency, 
and his resignation was accepted. In withdraw- 
ing from the college work he left a host of friends 
and no enemies. During his administration the 
College grew in numbers from one hundred and 
sixteen, of whom seventeen were collegians, to 
two hundred and fifty, of whom eighty were colle- 
gians. Holmes Hall was added to the campus, 
and one hundred thousand dollars was secured 
for endowment. Any one studying carefully the 
times and conditions would pronounce President 
Baldwin's administration successful — ^historic- 
ally considered, remarkably successful. 

The graduating class of 1898 presented the Col- 
lege with a fine portrait of President Baldwin by 
Oscar Kenneth of San Francisco, with the f ollow- 

* Chapter XXVII. 

[149] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ing words voiced by Miss Grace Adams McPlier- 
ron: *^We honor his keen sense of justice, his 
insight into human nature, his scholarly attain- 
ments, his broad humanity and his liberal culture ; 
but more than all, we love the man. We trust 
that the men and women who in future years may 
be privileged to study in these halls may in a 
measure grasp some of the nobleness and inspira- 
tion which radiate from his face and are sug- 
gested to a slight degree in this portrait.*' 

Dr. McLean wrote of him: *^To him well 
belongs the honor of being founder and foster- 
father of the infant institution. Under his guid- 
ance it was that Pomona outgrew and outran the 
array of competitors which started with it in the 
educational race, and gained for itself that credit 
for high standards and thorough work which have 
placed it only second to the two great universities 
of the state. So long as Pomona College lives 
shall Dr. Baldwin live in its life. In its expan- 
sion his life and influence shall expand and con- 
tinue to be a pervasive power for good. And 
that not in Southern California alone, nor even 
where the graduates of the decade past shall go ; 
but wherever graduates in the decades to come 
shall live and bless society, there shall he live 
within and bless society. Pomona College is a 
flowing well. The power and influence of those 
who follow him in its administration shall in no 
true sense succeed and displace his, but shall only 

[150] 



PEESIDENT BALDWIN 

add themselves to his, and render it more lasting 
and more potent." 

In October, 1910, by invitation of President 
Blaisdell, Ex-President Baldwin spoke to the 
student body in chapel on * ^ The Capacity for En- 
thusiasm.'' The subject was suggested by a 
remark of President David Starr Jordan in re- 
sponse to an inquiry about the Pomona men and 
women who had gone to Stanford for graduate 
work: ^*They have a capacity for enthusiasm.'' 
The address appealed to the students with all the 
old-time intense interest. The ^* Student Life" 
says of it: **His words came from his heart 
without need for adornment. How he said them 
we shall probably forget. What he said became 
too closely welded into our natures for any such 
lapse." 

Again, in the autumn of 1912, at the celebration 
of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the incorpora- 
tion of the College, the spontaneous and generous 
response of the audience to a simple word of 
recognition of President Baldwin's work, with 
sympathy for him in his illness at the time, 
showed that he was still near and dear to the 
hearts of Pomona's friends. 



1151] 



CHAPTER XI 

THE EAELIER PROFESSOES 

It would be difficult to exaggerate the molding 
power of the first teachers in an educational in- 
stitution. The spirit engendered, the inspiration 
given, the precedents formed, all help to create an 
atmosphere which is pervasive and life-giving; 
and which, if those teachers continue for a term 
of years, is not easily changed in the process of 
growth and in the addition of new teachers. 

Pomona has been peculiarly fortunate in this 
respect. The first teachers selected proved to 
be not only scholarly and apt in teaching, but also 
of large manhood and womanhood and in sym- 
pathy with the ideals cherished in behalf of the 
College ; they were men and women of vision, who 
realized something of the scope of the undertak- 
ing, and were loyal, self-denying, long-suffering 
examples, and withal growing persons, adaptive, 
always ready for changed conditions. They were 
intent on a great work. They had a calling from 
God, and could not be turned aside by the allure- 
ments of money or honors. They were not dis- 
couraged by hardships, nor over-sensitive to sup- 
posed lack of appreciation or imagined injustice. 
They were men and women of faith, and counted 

[152] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

on the future for satisfaction, as if it were real- 
ized. They were different, very different, the one 
from the other, yet were they one in a great pur- 
pose, that of building up a strong, effective Chris- 
tian college for a great history. Each contrib- 
uted his own share in such manner as to produce 
one concrete, composite resultant. In order fully 
to understand the Pomona of the present, a brief 
study of its early teachers is quite necessary. 

The attention naturally turns first to Professor 
Edwin Clarence Norton. The son of a home mis- 
sionary. Professor Norton was graduated at Am- 
herst in 1879, and took graduate work, specializ- 
ing in Greek, at Yale and Johns Hopkins. In his 
sabbatical years he has again studied at Yale, 
where he received the degree of M. A., and still 
further at Oxford, England, and at Athens, 
Greece. He was ordained to the ministry in 
1884. For four years he was professor at Yank- 
ton College, Yankton, South Dakota. By reason 
of his opportunities and experience he was the 
first teacher appointed at Pomona College, and 
was made principal of the Preparatory Depart- 
ment and instructor in Greek. He came on the 
ground in time to make the necessary arrange- 
ments for the opening of the new college work. 
Mrs. Norton came with an infant in arms a few 
months later. Brought up in New Haven, a stu- 
dent at Mount Holyoke and a teacher at Yankton, 
Mrs. Norton had cultivation of mind and heart, 

[153] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

In her home, in the College, term after term as 
teacher, and in the Church and community, she 
has been a constant force for good cheer and gen- 
eral helpfulness in many ways. 

Professor Norton quickly showed that his was 
a master hand in organization. Evidently his ex- 
perience had done what only experience could do 
— broaden and deepen character — and he brought 
to his new work a spirit of loyalty and consecra- 
tion of inestimable value in the building up of 
manhood and womanhood. He continued to act 
as principal of the Preparatory Department until 
1893, when he was made dean of the faculty, 
in which position he still remains. In 1890 he 
was made professor of the Greek language. 
Carleton College gave him the degree of Doctor 
of Philosophy for special scholarly work. In 
1910 his professorship was placed on the Edwin 
Clarence Norton Foundation. This same year he 
delivered the adress before the graduating class 
of Pacific Theological Seminary, and received the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Seminary. 
In 1911 he was elected moderator of the General 
Congregational Association of Southern Califor- 
nia. Thus is made evident not only the esteem in 
which he is held for his work in the College, but 
also the fact that he keeps up to date, not alone 
in the scholarship of his profession, but in the 
thought and activities of religious interests as 
well. 

[ 154 ] 



THE EAELIER PROFESSORS 

The desire for quality rather than quantity is 
ingrained in his very being. It appears in the 
classroom and in the deanship, in the work that he 
does and in that required of others. He has high 
ideals for the College, and the desire for numbers 
never tempts him to waive his ideals. While 
Pomona stands preeminently for Christian char- 
acter, he would not have her a reform school. 
Scholarship, too, must coordinate with character. 
Sharply critical of the bright student who will not 
study, he has little patience with the poor scholar 
who relies on his goodness to carry him through. 
It is particularly hard for him to tolerate any- 
thing less than good, faithful, really hard study. 
While he has hosts of friends among students and 
alumni, naturally there have been a few who have 
felt that he was inclined to be a little severe in his 
judgment and his methods. 

There are few more inspiring teachers. The 
student who fails to acquire from him a love for 
the Greek language must be lacking in the in- 
stincts of a scholar. He often uses humor in the 
classroom, before the student body and with the 
individual student, to impress the helpful thought 
or the cautious injunction. Many an inspiring 
suggestion or commendatory word from the dean 
sticks in the student 's mind, like a burr in the hair, 
by reason of a humorous turn that he has given 
the sentence. For rich and spicy entertainment 
nothing need be better than one of Professor Nor- 

[155] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ton's humorous speeches, when he is in the mood 
for it. And he can he correspondingly impres- 
sive in enforcing more serious thought and 
experience. 

The loss of a little boy, Philip Jameson Nor- 
ton, was a great grief to Professor and Mrs. Nor- 
ton, and in memory of him they instituted a prize 
for the best student in the Preparatory Course 
of study. This prize was given thereafter each 
year, so long as this department continued. It 
was a pleasure to them to award it one year to 
their daughter. 

Professor Norton, drawing from previous ex- 
perience, was enabled to suggest a number of the 
customs which have grown into traditions. For 
example, the giving of the ^^Wash Program" (the 
forerunner of the Senior Play) at commence- 
ment. His executive ability is recognized 
further in the voluntary keeping, with Mrs. 
Norton's assistance, of a complete record of 
every student connected with the institution 
from the beginning. The work led to his ap- 
pointment as registrar, which office he continued 
to fill until 1913. In accepting his resignation 
of the office, the Board of Trustees gave ex- 
pression to their appreciation of this invalua- 
ble service by a vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. 
Norton. 

It was understood by a few that the presidency 
of a kindred institution was declined by him some 

[156] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

years since in deference to the interests of 
Pomona. 

Professor Frank Parkhurst Brackett should 
be mentioned in connection with Professor 
Norton as one of the first and most effective 
teachers. He was appointed instructor in math- 
ematics at the meeting at which Professor Norton 
received his apjoointment. 

Professor Brackett was Mted for college at the 
academy at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where his 
father, a graduate of Harvard College, was for 
many years a teacher in science. He was grad- 
uated at Dartmouth College in 1887, from which 
institution he received also the degree of M. A. 
He has since spent a year in graduate work at 
Clark University. 

He came to Los Angeles in 1887 to teach in 
McPherron Academy, but on account of throat 
trouble resigned at the end of the fall term. He 
was then induced by Mr. Sumner to open a pri- 
vate school in Pilgrim Chapel, Pomona, in order 
to hold together a number of students in prepara- 
tion for the opening of Pomona College, and with 
the expectation of an appointment in the new in- 
stitution. This he duly received, and after two 
years as instructor, he was made professor of 
mathematics and put- in charge of astronomy, 
which latter subject he took up with the first col^ 
lege class. Largely as a result of his inspirar 

[ 157 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

tion, an unusual interest in astronomy has been 
maintained, which was quickened by the erection 
and equipment of the F, P. Brackett Observatory, 
of which Professor Brackett was made director 
in 1908. Much work, however, some of perma- 
nent and widely recognized value, was done be- 
fore the Observatory was built. 

In the autumn of 1911, by invitation. Profes- 
sor Brackett accompanied Dr. C. G. Abbott, 
director of the Astrophysical Observatory of the 
Smithsonian Institution, in an astronomical ex- 
pedition to Algeria. The expedition was one of 
importance, and the appointment of Professor 
Brackett as one of its members was regarded as 
an honor, well merited and affording valuable 
experience. 

While a master in both his departments. Pro- 
fessor Brackett 's interest has not been confined 
to them. **The meteological observatory of Po- 
mona College is also a voluntary observer's sta- 
tion in the United States Weather Bureau, and as 
such is provided by the government with thre^ 
standard instruments, maximum and minimum 
thermometers, barometers, and a rain gauge." 
Professor Brackett has always been in charge of 
this station, and his reports at times have been of 
noticeable value. 

In 1890-91 he was excused from one class daily 
for a year that he might act as bookkeeper for the 
College. In the absence of Professor Norton, he 

[158] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

was dean of the faculty in 1904-05. When the 
erection of the Observatory was contemplated, he 
drew the plans and made the specifications. He 
also made the sketches followed by the architect 
in designing both the inside and the outside of the 
Library. 

As a man Professor Brackett has been a posi- 
tive factor all along in Pomona's history. At 
the very beginning, by his accurate scholarship, 
clear thinking and sterling Christian manhood, 
he gained the respect of all, and by reason of his 
nearness to the students in age, sympathies and 
experience he quickly became popular with them 
and effective in his influence. His musical abil- 
ity, particularly as shown in his remarkably fine 
voice, added not a little to his attractions. His 
steady growth and expansion and his simple, sin- 
cere faith have produced a personality of quiet 
force and wide scope. His poise, his breadth of 
view and his strength are seen especially in his 
committee work. He has built up the depart- 
ment of mathematics, in numbers and character, 
until it ranks with the best college departments 
of mathematics in the country. Very many would 
question whether there has been any stronger in- 
fluence than his in the development of Pomona's 
standards of scholarship and character. 

Professor Brackett married a daughter of one 
of the influential pioneers of California, and was 
one of the first members of the faculty to build a 

[ 159 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

home in Claremont, a liome which has always 
been a center of influence. Mrs. Brackett is an 
artist, and has taken great interest in the art de- 
partment of the College. Eepeated inducements, 
including one large pecuniary offer, have been 
presented to draw this family away from Po- 
mona, but they have preferred to remain at a sac- 
rifice, helping to build up an institution which 
they steadfastly believe is to have a significant 
part in the extension of Christian civilization. 

Mrs. H. A. Storrs resigned her position after a 
successful year of teaching in English and sci- 
ence. In her place Miss Phebe Estelle Spalding, 
a graduate of Carleton College, Minnesota, came 
to Pomona as a teacher of English and modern 
languages. Professor Norton had been a student 
at Carleton, and President Strong of that insti- 
tution had spoken at Pomona on Arbor Day the 
year before, and spent a week at the home of the 
secretary, so that the two colleges were not 
strangers. This relation was strengthened 
by a generous donation of books brought by Miss 
Spalding to the new institution, and later by ad- 
vanced degrees conferred on Miss Spalding and 
on Professor Norton. Miss Spalding had been 
brought up partly in New England and partly in 
the great new West, and had largely earned her 
way through college by teaching. At Pomona 
she was librarian for some years, as well as 

[160] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

teacher. After two years she was made in- 
structor, and the following year professor of Eng- 
lish literature and rhetoric. In 1905 her profes- 
sorship was made English literature, although 
she has continued to teach the history of art, 
which she took up with the first college class. 
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was given 
her for work done in Boston University. 

In addition to her varied work in the classroom 
and as librarian. Miss Spalding was at one time 
principal of women. Her hospitable home, 
whether in college rooms or in her own bunga- 
low, has been the home of many students and 
many alumnae in their visits to the College. Few, 
if any, have formed and maintained more close 
personal friendships, or have done more to cre- 
ate social ideals, than has Miss Spalding. Her 
own experiences, her strong character, breadth of 
thought and accuracy of expression, and her 
genial presence, have been an inspiration to many 
a young man and young woman. Nor has her 
influence been confined to the College and com- 
munity. She has had many invitations to speak in 
other places, near and more remote. As an 
author, too, she has awakened an interest in the 
older inhabitants of California, and made a place 
for herself in the literature of the State. The 
Phebe Estelle Spalding Foundation of the Chair 
of English Literature, which she holds, was cre- 
ated in 1910. 

[161] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

By not a little persuasion, Eev. Daniel Her- 
bert Colcord was induced to leave the pastorate 
of the Congregational Church at Monrovia to 
take up teaching at Pomona. He was born at 
Danvers, Massachusetts, and graduated at Am- 
herst College, where also he was given the degree 
of Master of Arts, and at Andover Theological 
Seminary. His first pastorate was over the Pres- 
byterian Church at Bedford, New Hampshire, 
from which he came to California. After a year 
as instructor in Latin and modern languages at 
Pomona, he was made professor of the Latin lan- 
guage and literature. He was principal of the 
Preparatory Department for two years, 1904-06. 
While Professor Norton was away on his first 
sabbatical year, 1895-96, Professor Colcord was 
acting dean. Quite worn out with his work, he 
took some months' rest in a trip to the Hawaiian 
Islands. He spent a sabbatical year in graduate 
study at Harvard University. 

Professor Colcord has grown in the respect and 
confidence of the student body and has a warm 
place in their affections. His department has re- 
ceived hearty commendation from the graduate 
schools to which Pomona students have gone. 
Experience as a pastor has added to his useful- 
ness and efficiency in College and community and 
with the whole constituency. Strong inducements 
have been presented to him to draw him back into 
the pastorate, but he has found the path of duty 

[ 162 ] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

and privilege in toiling on in Pomona, content 
with a small salary. His influence on his stu- 
dents, and through them, reaches far out into the 
Avide world. A remarkable gift of language has 
made him a model for the members of the Col- 
lege in matters forensic. For years he assisted 
and drilled students in preparation for public 
speaking. At Professor Colcord's solicitation, 
Mr. Ezra Slack, one of his classmates, very kindly 
gave the money for the purchase of the college 
bell. 

Mrs. Colcord was graduated at Mount Hol- 
yoke Seminary (now College), and with Mrs. 
Norton and others located at Pomona, has made 
it a center for Mount Holyoke alumnae. She has 
taken a great interest in building up a New Eng- 
land room in the Library. In the Church, too, 
she is an efficient worker. Most fortunate has 
Pomona been in the families of her professors. 

Mr. C. B. Sumner was elected professor of 
Biblical literature in 1890. He taught two or 
three terms in other departments before and after 
he had a special professorship, but never for a 
whole term did he have opportunity to give his 
entire or his best time and thought to teaching. 
In 1899 he resigned his professorship, which was 
practically sacrificed in 1893. 

.• The position of principal, of the joimgwotnen!^ 

[mi 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

department gives one professorial rank, and al- 
though Miss Mary Emily Harris is not now on the 
faculty, her long and faithful service demands 
recognition in connection with the earlier pro- 
fessors. Miss Harris came to Pomona with the 
degree of B. S. in 1891, from Beaver Falls, Minne- 
sota, and remained seven years. No more faith- 
ful and conscientious worker could be desired. 
An accurate scholar, an inspiring teacher, a 
woman of strong Christian character and high 
ideals, she commanded the respect and won the 
affections of a large number of the students. 
There were some who felt that she leaned a little 
toward authority rather than persuasiveness in 
her discipline. A few felt that she was too strict. 
Others might count to her credit all tendencies in 
these directions. Certainly she is held in high 
esteem and in tender remembrance by hosts of the 
friends of the College, and is regarded as one who 
built herself into the foundations of Pomona. 

The steadily-increasing demand led to the ap- 
pointment in 1892 of Eev. Arthur Dart Bissell to 
the position of professor of modern languages. 
Professor Bissell was born in India, of mission- 
ary parents, graduated in 1879 at Amherst Col- 
lege, from which institution he also received the 
degree of M. A., and at Yale Theological Semi- 
nary in 1882. He has been a graduate student in 
philosophy, in which he is profoundly interested, 
at Yale University and the University of Jjeipsio. 

1 164 ] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

Denied the privilege, which he coveted most ear- 
nestly, of returning to the land of his birth as a 
missionary, he became a teacher in the Hawaiian 
Islands, and when he was invited to Pomona had 
recently come to California. 

In 1895-96 he was instructor in psychology and 
political economy, after which he resumed the 
title of professor of modern languages. He has 
a genius for scholarship, and is at home in almost 
every department, especially — if specialty is pos- 
sible for him — in languages and music. His en- 
thusiasm in the classroom is most inspiring, and 
weak indeed is the student who does not catch the 
enthusiasm from him. When not in the class- 
room he is seemingly never so happy as when 
sitting at the piano or organ, playing the most 
difficult music, or leading or joining a chorus of 
voices. Early familiarity with eastern languages 
has given him peculiar facility in the pronuncia- 
tion of other tongues. To him the German lan- 
guage, to the teaching of which he now confines 
himself, is like his own. 

His ancestry and his early home in a mission- 
ary family and on missionary ground, combined 
with his scholarly tastes and natural bent, have 
been commanding factors in the development of 
Professor Bissell's manhood. His vital interest 
in every good word and work, his earnestness and 
consecration, his self-forgetfulness and absorp- 
tion in the business at hand, are a constant source 

[165] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of inspiration. No doubt he would have been 
a potent factor in the Christianization of India 
could he have followed his own inclinations; but 
it would not surprise his friends if he should ac- 
complish even more for the building up of the 
Lord ^s kingdom in the world in his present sphere 
of labor, where, perhaps all unknown to himself, 
he influences no one knows how many to go and 
do the kind of work he has been kept from doing. 
The value of such a man to a young college which 
is just forming its traditions is beyond the power 
of expression. 

Mrs. Bissell is a woman of sterling character. 
She often takes Mr. BisselPs place at the piano. 
The loss, by a painful accident, of their eldest 
child, a boy looking forward to his college life, 
was a great affliction. On certain of the college 
library shelves are found choice memorials of 
that boy. The two remaining children, both 
graduates of high standing at Pomona, are com- 
mended in their graduate work. Heredity is not 
everything, but unquestionably a good inher- 
itance is a priceless treasure. 

In the same year in which a professorship of 
modern languages was established it was decided 
to have additional instruction in science, and Pro- 
fessor George Gale Hitchcock was employed. 
Professor Hitchcock, who was graduated at the 
University of Nebraska in 1883, left a position of 

[ 166 ] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

better salary at the Agricultural College of 
Washington to accept a place in a Christian col- 
lege. His grandfather was the Rev. Dr. Gale, 
the founder of Knox College, and his father spent 
many years as a teacher in that institution, so 
that he had grown up with the ideals connected 
with such a college. He did graduate work at 
Johns Hopkins and Cornell Universities before 
coming to Pomona, and spent the year 1912-13 in 
study at Cornell in the department of physics. 
At first Professor Hitchcock was at the head 
of the departments of chemistry and physics. In 
1906 he gave up chemistry, and thereafter de- 
voted himself to the building up of the depart- 
ment of physics. Every one at all familiar with 
the changes that have taken place in these 
branches of science in the last twenty-five years 
knows that only by the most painstaking and per- 
sistent study could a man keep abreast of his de- 
partment and do the work demanded of him. Add 
to this imperative necessity the lack of equipment 
and the many hindrances and inconveniences in- 
evitable in a young college, and one begins to con- 
ceive some of the difficulties with which Professor 
Hitchcock has had to contend. For conscientious 
fidelity, for watchful and interested attention to 
each individual student, and for thoroughness of 
instruction, he has few equals. His students al- 
ways bring back a good report from more ad- 
vanced institutions, and never have reason to be 

[167] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ashamed of their first instructor. Some of them 
have already won high and honorable positions. 

Professor Hitchcock's practical turn of mind 
has made him an authority in all the applications 
of gas and electricity. His love of music, too, and 
especially his knowledge of the organ, together 
with his aptitude for mechanics, have made him 
exceedingly useful outside his profession. From 
him came the suggestion that the College Seal 
should be put into heraldic form. The work was 
done with minute regard to correctness of detail 
by a friend of his who had made a study of such 
matters, Mr. Frank Van Vleck. 

Professor Hitchcock's son, a graduate of Po- 
mona and a fine scholar, had the pleasure of a 
year 's study with his father in the physics depart- 
ment at Cornell University in 1912-13. 

By both example and precept Professor Hitch- 
cock is a constant witness to students and faculty, 
to Church and community, of the value and effi- 
ciency of the genuine Christian life. Many stu- 
dents have found a home in his home, and enjoy 
returning from time to time as alumni and renew- 
ing their fellowship with his family. Mrs. Hitch- 
cock is the daughter of a Methodist Episcopal 
minister, and is in fullest sympathy with her hus- 
band's ideals. 

When it became necessary, a year and a half 
later than the coming of Professor Hitchcock, to 

[168] 



THE EAELIER PROFESSOES 

teach biology, President Baldwin suggested his 
brother-in-law, Professor Albert John Cook, with 
a promise from his father to pay Professor 
Cook^s salary for three years. Professor Cook, a 
graduate of Michigan Agricultural College, from 
which he later received the degree of Doctor of 
Science, and a graduate student at Harvard Uni- 
versity, left an important position in his Alma 
Mater to take up the work at Pomona, as a dis- 
tinctively Christian college. He loves his chosen 
work, and thoroughly believes in its supreme util- 
ity for every young man and young woman. His 
overflowing enthusiasm never wanes in the pres- 
ence of his pupils. His optimism, too, is always 
conspicuous. His sympathetic interest in every 
one draws students close to him, giving him influ- 
ence with many in his classroom and outside of 
his classes. His department grew rapidly in num- 
bers and in influence. 

Nor was his influence confined to the student 
body and the College. Opportunity was given 
him by the College to do outside work as he had 
done in Michigan, and he entered upon it at once. 
He always has given particular attention to the 
practical side of his profession, having associated 
much with farmers and advised and worked with 
them. In Michigan he inaugurated farmers' clubs 
which became a power economically and politi- 
cally in the State. He also conducted farmers' 
institutes throughout the State. When he came to 

[169] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

California lie was put in charge of such institutes 
by the State University, and made them widely 
useful. Also he encouraged the formation of 
farmers' clubs, which soon became quite numer- 
ous. Some of them, particularly the Claremont 
Horticultural Club, have been and still are of 
great value. His appointment in 1911 as Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture of the State of California 
was indeed a fitting recognition of the work he 
had done and was capable of doing. Into this new 
field of influence Dr. Cook entered with his wonted 
enthusiasm. There were some important under- 
takings which he was anxious to accomplish, 
which he believed would result to the benefit of 
the farmers and thus to the prosperity of the 
State. He will spare no effort to insure success. 
Perhaps no man has had a wider influence in his 
field of labor in this part of the State for the past 
nineteen years than Professor Cook; and this in- 
fluence has centered in Pomona College. He is 
devoted to the ideals of Pomona, and has worked 
for her early and late. 

When, in 1897-98, it became necessary for Pro- 
fessor C. B. Sumner to be excused from his 
classes for financial work, and Professor Brackett 
needed help, Mr. George Stedman Sumner was 
made instructor in Biblical literature and mathe- 
matics. He was a graduate of Pomona's first 
class, and took both the B. A. and the Pb. D. de- 

[170] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

gree at Yale University. The second year he was 
made instructor in history and mathematics. 
Two years later he was appointed associate pro- 
fessor of history and economics. Again in two 
years he was made professor of history and in- 
structor in economics. In 1905, w^hen about to go 
away for his sabbatical year, having been urged 
to make the work of economics primary rather 
than that of history, he referred the matter to the 
faculty, only insisting that the decision be final, 
in order that he might know how best to use his 
year of study for the benefit of his profession. 
On recommendation of the faculty his professor- 
ship was then changed to that of economics and 
sociology. 

Professor Sumner does not count as one of the 
* ^ Old Guard, ' ' all of whom were his teachers. At 
the same time, he took a position on the faculty 
only three and a half years after Professor Cook, 
and five years after Professors Hitchcock and 
Bissell, while he was a teacher seven years before 
any subsequent head of department now in serv- 
ice. To the great body of the alumni, therefore, 
he is classed with the earlier rather than with the 
later professors. He keeps fully informed of the 
literature on the subjects that he teaches, has 
used both sabbatical years in the study of practi- 
cal work in the large cities of this country and 
Europe, and has carried his researches into Aus- 
tralia, New Zealand, the Philippines, China and 

[171] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Japan. As a teacher he has a wide range of facts 
at command and states his points clearly and 
strongly. In committee work his familiarity with 
his own and other institutions and his thoughtful 
consideration of academic matters give him spe- 
cial influence. 

Miss Harris was followed in the young 
women's department in 1898-99 by Miss Mary Ma- 
tilda McLean (Mrs. EichardOlney), with the titles 
of dean and instructor in English. Miss Mc- 
Lean's dignity and strength of character and her 
very close sympathy with the students gave her 
unusual success in spite of inexperience. The 
College was very sorry to part with her at the 
end of the year, while rejoicing in her anticipated 
happiness in a home of her own. 

Miss Mary Elizabeth Allen, a graduate of the 
University of Michigan, succeeded Miss McLean 
in the care of the young women for three years. 
At first she was acting dean and instructor in 
Latin and Greek. Later she was elected assistant 
professor in Latin and Greek, which position she 
continued to fill until 1909, when she resigned. 
Miss Allen was a conscientious, faithful and in- 
spiring teacher. While her health did not permit 
her to continue the care of the young women, her 
influence was always positive and helpful in that 
which is highest and noblest in character and 
in pursuit. She continues to live under the wing 

[172] 



THE EARLIER PROFESSORS 

of the College and to have some part in its 
activities. 

Not even a novice in college history can fail to 
notice the small number of the changes in the 
earlier faculty, as represented in this review. In 
fact, every one of the heads of departments of 
earlier years, eight in all, is still at Pomona, ex- 
cept Professor Cook, who retired in 1911 at the 
age of seventy years. No note is here taken of 
Professor Frederick Starr, who remained only 
two or three months, and gave only a part of that 
time to the College; nor of Professor Shaw, who 
was here but a few weeks. If the inquiry into the 
present working force be pressed further, it will 
be found that these same professors of the earlier 
days are still among the most influential and ef- 
fective workers. Has not this fact, so unusual in 
such institutions, much to do with Pomona 's fa- 
vorable record? 



[ 173] 



CHAPTEE XII 

THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 
A marked feature of the modern educational 
institution is the campus. And this term 
* * campus ' ' has come to have a much wider mean- 
ing than it had a few years ago. It was then 
considered sufficient to provide ample room for 
buildings, with a little walking and breathing 
space between them. Now even high schools and 
graded schools must have space for athletics for 
both boys and girls. The school authorities of 
Los Angeles County did not wish to accept a site 
for a high school in Claremont with less than ten 
acres. Yale University, unable to obtain a large 
enough campus near its buildings, hag recently 
gone out a mile or two and set apart extensive 
fields for all forms of athletics, with provision for 
immense audiences to witness the games of the 
students. Such facts as these give to the history 
of Pomona's campus a wide importance. 

The history of many a college and university 
includes a story of an outgrown campus, of en- 
largement on this side and that or great changes 
in the plant, frequently even with the abandon- 
ment of the original site for one more ample and 
adaptable. These changes take place invariably 

[174] 



THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 

after the population has crowded about the insti- 
tution, rendering the desired extension difficult if 
not practically impossible, and after prices of 
real estate actually available have increased enor- 
mously. As a result, the ideal campus, if still pos- 
sible, involves extensions which cost well-nigh 
enough to have endowed the college at first. This 
condition does not always arise from lack of fore- 
thought nor from the expansion of original plans. 
It may result from the fact that in early days even 
the small cost of purchasing adequate land is 
utterly out of the question. 

The friends of Pomona were happy in securing 
the Claremont campus, as well suited to its pur- 
pose. It consisted of about nine acres. They 
knew very well that it was too small for college 
purposes, but they were at the time planning for a 
preparatory school only in this location. The 
process of enlargement began as soon as this site 
was adopted for the location of the College. Some 
lots of land which it was felt would ultimately be 
needed for the College were obtained by exchange 
and by solicitation. From time to time, under 
favorable conditions, purchases have been made. 
While in this way thousands of dollars have been 
saved in securing the present campus, thousands 
of dollars have been lost because it was impossi- 
ble to take advantage of opportunities afforded. 
The Campus is still incomplete by reason of the 
difficulty of securing a very few improved lots on 

[175] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Harvard Avenue between Third and Fourth 
Streets ; but its outlines are clearly defined and it 
comprises over a hundred acres. 

During President Baldwin's administration the 
Board of Supervisors closed one or two parts of 
streets, and in the winter of 1913-14 the city trus- 
tees closed one or two more, leaving practically 
the entire college grounds, with only one public 
highway, College Avenue, crossing it. 

The parkways of Fifth Street between Harvard 
and College Avenues have been widened ten feet 
on either side by the city trustees, and it is 
planned to extend Fourth and Fifth Streets along 
either side of the Central Campus to the east line 
of the mesa, for passenger traffic only. This will 
give ready access to all the buildings, for light 
travel, — pleasure or business, — while relieving 
the Campus of much heavy and undesirable traf- 
fic. On College Avenue the city has widened the 
parkways through the college grounds, and the 
College, while widening the sidewalks from five to 
eight feet, has cooperated with the city by giving 
up a portion of the original sidewalk to the park- 
ways and putting the new sidewalk in part on its 
own land. The generous, expansive effect is fine, 
and is enhanced by the clumps of tall-growing 
eucalyptus trees set out at the corners of all 
driveways and opposite those already planted, 
by ornamental shrubs and by the wide lawn, al- 
ready in fine order, on the west side. 

[176] 



THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 

The class of 1913 very generously left money 
with which to introduce a new lighting scheme 
providing for the replacing of the old system on 
College Avenue with concrete posts surmounted 
with ground glass globes. Likewise, by the kind- 
ness of a friend whose name is withheld, still fur- 
ther improvements have been made on the Avenue 
and on Sixth Street — evidently the beginning of 
changes that will add greatly to the beauty and 
attractiveness of the college grounds. 

A great boon came a few years ago in the ac- 
quisition of a tract of land comprising sixty-seven 
acres, long known as ^^The Wash,'' adjoining the 
original campus on the east and extending from 
Sixth Street south to the Santa Fe Eailroad. It 
embraces the bed of an old winter torrent, an 
overflow of the mountain stream, that for ages in 
the rainy months went leaping down among the 
cactus and the rocks, damming itself up here and 
there, deflected on this side and that by the debris, 
leaving wide desolation and waste in its wake. 
Along the banks, sheltered by the rocks, had 
grown up clumps of cactus, thistles, and bushes 
of all sorts, interspersed with running vines ren- 
dering crossing difficult, and often making large 
spaces well-nigh unapproachable. At the same 
time, here and there in the midst of the debris 
was a magnificent live oak or a picturesque 
sycamore. 

Beyond the old Wash was a broad expanse, with 

[177] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

thousands of live oaks of every size and shape, 
many with huge knotted trunks and extended 
branches gnarled and twisted in fantastic forms, 
marking the growth of centuries, if not millen- 
niums. Occasionally were found little groves of 
straight, vigorous trees in the prime of life; 
again, clumps of low, crooked-limbed sycamores; 
large beds of cactus of many varieties, bunches 
of California mahogany, chaparral of countless 
names and charms ; beautiful flowery shrubs, and 
extended spaces, in some seasons carpeted with 
brilliant bloom of varied hues. For several hun- 
dred feet, running north and south through the 
middle of this tract, was a table-land twenty to 
thirty feet high and one or two hundred feet 
wide, covered wih a very rich soil. 

In spite of the difficulty of approach to the at- 
tractive parts of this tract, they were quickly 
explored by the students and became much fre- 
quented. The little mesa was the place for pic- 
nics, and one spot was appropriated for various 
out-of-door meetings. The possibilities of the en- 
tire tract appealed strongly to some of the friends 
of the College, and how to get possession of it 
was a frequent subject of thought and discussion. 
No way, however, seemed open, in view of the 
many and immediately pressing needs of the Col- 
lege. One day it was learned with consternation 
that ^ve acres of the coveted Wash had been sold ; 
that, too, the portion adjoining the campus along 

[178] 



THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 

the northeast boundary. The news called for ac- 
tion. By the kindly interest of Messrs. Nichols, 
Palmer and Hinckley, directors of the Pomona 
Land and Water Company, by which the tract was 
controlled, a very favorable proposition was re- 
ceived by the College for the purchase of the sixty 
acres remaining in their hands. The Board of 
Trustees was led now to favor the purchase, 
which was made possible at this time by the offer 
of a loan for a long period at ^ve per cent, 
interest. 

It then became necessary to obtain the ^ve 
acres already sold, which was accomplished with 
some difficulty. There remained about two acres 
in the southwest corner, between Second Street 
and the railroad, to complete the tract. This was 
in the hands of the Santa Fe Railway Company. 
Mr. A. P. Maginnis, an official of that company, 
who lived in Claremont for a year or two and was 
interested in the College, very kindly offered to 
secure this piece, and induced the company to 
deed it to the college for park purposes. 

Thus Pomona became the proud possessor 
of **The Wash," a grand enlargement of the 
campus, which has been growing in the estimation 
of all the friends of the College every year and 
every day since it was acquired. Not long after 
coming into possession of this property, a meet- 
ing of the trustee Committee on Buildings and 
Grounds was called at Claremont. Mr. Marston 

[ 179 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

came up from San Diego, bringing Mr. Cook, who 
represented Samuel Parsons and Company of 
New York, landscape architects; and Mr. A. K. 
Smiley came from Redlands, bringing his brother, 
Mr. Daniel Smiley. After going very carefully 
over the newly-acquired tract, all were impressed 
profoundly with its natural beauty and its possi- 
bilities in relation to the rest of the campus. The 
Smiley brothers pronounced it of untold value to 
the college, agreeing that for college purposes it 
was quite ideal. They questioned whether, taking 
all the conditions into account, its equal could be 
found anywhere on the Pacific Coast. 

The same day, after looking over the Library 
site and the land about it, and finding that several 
lots were not yet owned by the College, Mr. Mar- 
ston offered, provided the remainder of the block 
should be secured, to pay for plotting the ground 
and designating the trees to be planted for a per- 
manent park. The lots were obtained, partly by 
exchange and partly by purchase, and the west 
half of this block thus came into the possession 
of the College without any legal restriction rest- 
ing upon it. The east half had been deeded to the 
College for park purposes, with the provision that 
a library might be built upon it, but no other 
building. In due time Mr. Cook laid out the 
Library block for the general purpose of a park, 
with a place for a library building on the east half, 
and a possible college building of some sort on 



THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 

the west half, in accordance with Mr. Marston^s 
provision. 

After full discussion it was decided by the com- 
mittee to lay out the *^Wash'^ park so as to retain 
as far as possible its natural conditions, supple- 
menting the trees and shrubs, as might be needed, 
in such manner as should harmonize with the nat- 
ural growth. Mr. Cook, at Mr. Marston's ex- 
pense, plotted the drives and walks, happily 
emphasizing the peculiar beauties of the location, 
and appointed the varieties and the number of 
trees to be planted wherever the present growth 
was insufficient. On the very day the committee 
met, Mr. Blanchard proposed to pay for this in- 
valuable addition to the campus, and it was 
named in his honor, Blanchard Park. 

It having been ascertained that Mr. Myron 
Hunt of Los Angeles, of the firm of Myron Hunt 
and Elmer Grey, Architects, had visited twenty- 
five or thirty of the principal universities and col- 
leges of the country, and had made a special 
study of college grounds and their histories, he 
was asked to look over Pomona's campus and 
make suggestions. He came to Claremont and 
made a thorough examination of the grounds, in- 
cluding Blanchard Park. The faculty committee 
on buildings and grounds, with President Gates 
and Mr. Sumner of the trustee committee, came 
together to hear his report. When his plan was 
put upon the blackboard and fully explained those 

[1811 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

present heartily accepted it. After submission to 
the absent members of the trustee Committee, the 
plan was explained to the Board of Trustees, and 
was unanimously approved and adopted as the 
outline plan to be followed. Mr. Hunt printed a 
little pamphlet portraying his scheme, with maps. 
Surveys were made later, levels taken, and Smi- 
ley Hall was the first building erected in accord- 
ance with the new plan. Still later the survey was 
extended over the park, and the levels taken so 
that there might be a unity of plan for the entire 
grounds, to which any development in the future 
should conform. Such a plan is expansive, com- 
prehensive and adaptive, and though it take hun- 
dreds of years to fill it out, yet it contemplates a 
harmony of design and orderly convenience which 
need never be infringed. 

The Alumni Athletic Field is partly on the old 
campus adjoining the gymnasium, but mostly in 
the added tract. Brackett Observatory is east of 
the athletic field, and near the north end of the 
little table-land in the midst of the park. 

A little south of the observatory and on the east 
side of the table-land is the Greek Theater, which 
is as yet far from complete. Though many of its 
possibilities are still in embryo, nevertheless the 
time and thought that have been given to it by 
the alumni, the enthusiasm shown by some of the 
later graduating classes, its use for the class play, 
for the historical pageant and for a variety of 

[182] 



THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 

other purposes, together with the general expec- 
tation created, betoken a matter not only of pres- 
ent interest and importance, but also of great 
future significance. 

The idea of a Greek theater has been a growth, 
the natural outcome of prevailing conditions. In 
the earliest years the graduating classes had some 
kind of a fun-producing entertainment on Tues- 
day afternoon of Commencement week, out in the 
* * Wash. ' ' Later this gave place to an evening en- 
tertainment more or less informal. For a few years 
each graduating class gave a play with local color- 
ing. At present the ^^Wash Program '^ takes the 
form of a play written by one or more members of 
the class. These gatherings continued to be on the 
mesa, were free to all, and became immensely pop- 
ular, drawing thousands of spectators. At length 
the increasing size of the audiences made it nec- 
essary to seat them upon the sloping side of the 
mesa instead of upon the top. After a while it 
became difficult to arrange seats even there, so 
that all could see and hear. Thus arose the sug- 
gestion of an out-of-doors auditorium, a place 
where not only this entertainment but many 
other large gatherings during the year might be 
held. Hardly had the alumni completed the ath- 
letic field when they began to talk and plan for 
such an auditorium. The class of 1910 took up 
the matter seriously, and subscribed twenty-five 
hundred dollars with which to start the enterprise 

[183] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

by securing an architect and building the stage. 
Mr. Myron Hunt undertook to make the plans. 
He studied the style of architecture, visited the 
Greek Theater at the University of California, 
and finally presented plans which were adopted. 
They contemplate a very extensive and beautiful 
structure, to include, when completed, spacious 
reception rooms; a very large stage with all 
needed dressing and retiring rooms, and ar- 
ranged with a background of live-oak trees; an 
auditorium adapted to small audiences of a few 
hundred and to audiences of four or ^ve thousand, 
with every convenience; the whole to be ulti- 
mately embellished with stately columns, colon- 
nades, cornices, and various ornamentation, 
producing a rich and imposing effect. At the 
present time the retaining wall for the stage, and 
the stage floor, the retaining walls at the ends of 
the seats, the south and part of the north tunnel 
through which the audience now enters, are built. 
The orchestra is complete ; also the diadzoma and 
the formation of the whole auditorium. Some of 
the lower seats are made of concrete, and much 
of the filling is done, affording a footing for tiers 
of concrete seats and a foundation for bleachers 
sufficient to accommodate an audience of four 
thousand. Henceforth, by the expenditure of a 
small sum of money at a time, the work may be 
economically carried to completion. 
The location has been so selected that hardly a 

[ 184 ] 



THE COLLEGE CAMPUS 

tree has been injured, and at the same time ad- 
vantage has been taken of some fine trees at the 
rear of the stage, happily situated for scenic ef- 
fect and for shade. Tall-growing eucalyptus trees 
are being set out to afford full shade in due time. 
The plan embraces entrances through tunnels 
from the college side on the west, while the main 
entrances are to be on the front, at the northeast 
and southeast corners. The front when finished 
is to be quite elaborate, reserving the trees for a 
background. Ornamental grounds for parking 
automobiles have been arranged. 

In a number of the ' ^ Metate " is an appreciation 
of Blanchard Park, from the student 's viewpoint : 
*'The botanist ^s ideal resort, where he can wan- 
der at will, and almost for the wishing possess 
himself of the treasures of plant and bush which 
his needs demand; where he may revel in floral 
life, and often and again disclose the beauties of 
some flower which but for his searching eye would 
have been ^born to blush unseen.' A place where 
two or three can stroll together and be alone, 
where it is as natural to be free and easy and 
unconstrained as life itself is natural; where 
those true and precious and ennobling friendships 
which college students can best know may be 
firmly cemented and strongly tried. A spot where 
one can lie in peace to study or to think or sleep, 
with nothing to disturb his quiet save the sooth- 

[-185], 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ing whisperings of the leaves, the chatter of an oc- 
casional jay, or now and then the scurrying of a 
rabbit ; a realm of rest and peace. A place where 
the student, if he will, can get away from himself ; 
where the baser nature and commoner things can 
be put aside, where he can boldly face the prob- 
lems of life, and the future with its hopes and 
ambitions, its fears and its battles, and where 
thought can bring him a true and pure inspiration 
to mold his character, to govern his course and to 
shape his destiny.'' 



[186] 



CHAPTER XIII 

CHRISTIAN LIFE AT POMONA 

The revived and increasing attention now given 
to religious education, alike on the Pacific Coast, 
in the Middle West and on the Atlantic Coast, in- 
dicates significant reaction from that non-reli- 
gious trend of the public schools which has been 
especially noticeable since the multiplication of 
high schools and the institution of state universi- 
ties. It is found that education without moral 
and religious training, even though it be carried 
on through the high school and the university, 
does not insure good citizenship. The number of 
educated men and women brought before the 
courts, and found in jails and prisons, is alarm- 
ing. Evidently moral and religious instruction is 
neglected. Statesmen and educators and thinking 
men in all the walks of life are getting together, 
as in the Religious Education Association, to dis- 
cuss this matter and try to find some remedy for 
conditions so deplorable. Few indeed would re- 
turn to the old-time alliance of Church and State, 
yet all believe that there were certain benefits 
under those conditions, in the training of men and 
women of character, which it is hoped may yet be 
gained in other ways. 

[187] 



STOEY of POMONA COLLEGE 

^he founders of Pomona made the Christian 
ideal fundamental and primal in its organization. 
Nor has this side of college life been lost sight of 
by the trustees and faculty. The test of fitness 
and purpose to build up Christian manhood and 
womanhood has been applied to every permanent 
officer and teacher, and so far as practicable to 
every temporary instructor and employee. Not 
only so, but every friend of the College is encour- 
aged to help bring to bear from outside the curric- 
ulum every influence possible in this direction. 
Efforts are steadily made to keep in touch with 
the movements of strong, effective, illuminating 
Christian characters all over the world, and so far 
as possible to bring them before the student body. 
The list of such men and women with whom the 
College has been brought into touch is surpris- 
ingly large. Pomona is by many supposed to be 
remote and rather isolated; and perhaps it was 
somewhat so in the earlier days; but in recent 
years, with the tide of travel in this direction, 
there are few educational institutions in the coun- 
try, outside the great centers of population in the 
East, which offer more frequent opportunities to 
hear speakers and leaders of the highest type 
than are afforded at Pomona. The keeping of 
high ideals before the College helps not only to 
develop individual character, but also to stimulate 
united effort to lift the home life to a higher 
standard. With this in mind, while without 

[188] 



CHRISTIAN LIFE AT POMONA 

shrinking the College applies all the tests of sci- 
entific and scholarly attainment to Pomona, it 
regards the supreme test of her success as her 
religious life. By this is not meant any particu- 
lar form or manifestation of religious zeal, but a 
deep, abiding, controlling religious purpose. 

While at first intimately connected with the Pil- 
grim Church at Pomona, and afterward with the 
Church at Claremont, Pomona College, like other 
personalities, has a distinct Christian life of her 
own. Pilgrim Church was the mother church, and 
no mother ever cared more tenderly and sympa- 
thetically for her child than for four years this 
church cared for Pomona College. And this lov- 
ing care was returned with loving service through 
all these years. Nor did this delightful relation- 
ship terminate with the organization of the 
Church at Claremont. The bonds which had held 
church and college so closely and happily together 
were enduring. Mr. and Mrs. Frary were 
adopted into the College, and visits were often 
exchanged, with the consciousness that a home 
welcome was always in waiting. Mr. Frary was 
enjoyed in Claremont, and many connected with 
the College found frequent opportunity to hear 
him in his own pulpit. To this day Pilgrim 
Church is very dear to many by reason of those 
ties which were so strongly woven. The Sunday 
ministry and the ministry of the midweek prayer 
meetings are not forgotten; nor are the frequent 

[1B9] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

personal services ; and they have all done much to 
shape and encourage Christian activities at Po- 
mona. Those early days, so fruitful in forming 
precedents, did not lack in precedents pertaining 
to the Christian life. The independence of out- 
side help on the part of Pilgrim Church, and her 
remarkable progress in numbers, in benevolence, 
and in all the rich fruitage of Christian activity, 
have been a constant object lesson to the College. 
This influence has been augmented by the knowl- 
edge that the Church has more than once post- 
poned improvements in its own interests in order 
to further the interests of the College. Few in 
the city of Pomona rejoice more heartily in the 
new, beautiful and churchly temple of the Pilgrim 
Church than do many of the college friends now 
connected with the Claremont Church. 

It might almost be said that for many years 
the Claremont Church was the College, and the 
College was the Church. The Church was organ- 
ized, and its service of recognition was held in the 
college dining-room, where also for fifteen months 
its public services were conducted. For thirteen 
years its house of worship was the college chapel, 
and its Sunday-school and midweek services and 
social functions were all held in the college build- 
ings. It verily seemed an integral part of the Col- 
lege, and was regarded too much as a college 
church, notwithstanding unceasing care on the 
part of the officers and teachers of the College to 

[190] 



CHRISTIAN LIFE AT POMONA 

avoid this, causing them often to withdraw from 
official service in the Church and to throw the re- 
sponsibility upon the members of the community 
not connected with the College. However, the ac- 
commodations served the purpose so well that the 
building of a community church was postponed, 
by general consent, for years, on account of the 
extreme needs of the growing college. Finally, 
when by united and surprising effort the commu- 
nity church was built, its size, character and 
equipment alike were largely determined by the 
needs of the College, and that, too, without one 
word of dissent or even of question. Here again 
the extended influence of the mother church is 
seen in the fact that the Claremont Church never 
has received aid from the Home Missionary So- 
ciety; and that while it accepted a loan and a 
grant from the Church Building Society, it has 
paid back the grant, and nearly, if not quite, the 
loan. Thus the College never has been connected 
with a dependent church spirit. This may be ac- 
counted no small factor in the building up of its 
character in respect to benevolence and mission- 
ary interest. 

Most of the members of the faculty, and many 
of the students, in the early days, were members 
of the Pilgrim Church. Many united with that 
church by confession of faith. The situation has 
been the same with the Claremont Church since 
its organization. On careful inquiry, however, it 

[ 191 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

was decided several years ago that it was better 
for student members of churches located away 
from Claremont to retain their membership in the 
home churches rather than unite with the Clare- 
mont Church. Not only might denominational rea- 
sons exist, but aside from that, it was felt 
that after graduation from college it was better 
for one to be connected with his home church 
rather than with Claremont. Still it was unques- 
tionably helpful to the student while in college 
for four years, to be identified with the college 
church. To accomplish the good, and avoid objec- 
tion, an *' Affiliated Membership '^ was provided, 
by which, without removing his membership, by 
means of a letter from his home church, one might 
be received into covenant with the Claremont 
Church, with all the rights, privileges and obliga- 
tions of church membership except the right to 
vote. There are now about a hundred affiliated 
members. 

The Christian Association of the College very 
early became an active force. For many years, in 
addition to its own meetings, it took charge of the 
morning chapel exercises for one day in each 
week, advertising the subject in the college paper. 
These exercises, conducted in the form of a mu- 
tual prayer meeting of faculty and students, were 
often very effective. Mr. Miller, a lawyer of re- 
pute from Philadelphia, who represented the 
Field estate in its relations to the College, was 

[192] 



CHRISTIAN LIFE AT POMONA 

impressed profoundly by one of these meetings 
which he attended when it was under tlie direction 
of a student. This experience was repeated often 
in the case of strangers visiting the College who 
never had witnessed anything of the kind. The 
Sunday evening meetings, in which faculty and 
students took part, were effective. The college 
experiences of members of the graduating class, 
related in such meetings, were sometimes of 
thrilling interest, and often bore witness to the 
debt owed to the helpful and saving force of the 
College itself, rather than to individual, personal 
influence. It should be remembered that a large 
proportion of the student body and all of the 
faculty were, in the early days, and always have 
been, professing Christians. At the last prayer 
meeting before the graduation of one of the larg- 
est classes of the first fifteen years, every mem- 
ber of the class was present and took some part. 
In one of the largest classes of Pomona's history, 
all the young women except one were members of 
the Young Women's Christian Association. Thus 
the spontaneity of the Christian activity has 
made it effective. 

More or less Bible study has been required, but, 
aside from this, voluntary study of the Bible has 
been a marked feature of the college life. Pro- 
fessor Norton's Bible class for young men, 
maintained for many years, was helpful and stim- 
ulating. A similar class for young women was 

[193] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

long maintained by different teachers. More re- 
cently the various Bible study classes for the men 
and the women have been a prominent and most 
important feature of the Young Men's and Young 
Women's Christian Associations. Quite a large 
percentage of the student body engage in this op- 
tional study, as well as in the regular college 
Bible classes. 

In the winter of 1889-90, Mr. Sayford, ^^ College 
Evangelist,'' an old-time friend of the secretary, 
and at one time a co-worker with him in evan- 
gelistic services, spent two profitable days at the 
College. This was one of several visits of Mr. 
Sayford, of one of which some years later, when 
he came with Mr. John R. Mott, ^'The Pomona 
Student" says: ^^ Messrs. Mott and Sayford have 
come and gone, and if there is a student in the 
school who does not feel that his life will be better 
for the warm, manly influence that fairly scintil- 
lated from these men of God, we have yet to meet 
him. We feel that the religious life of the place 
can never be just as it was before." 

The Young Men's and Young Women's Chris- 
tian Associations were organized early, and 
thereby the College came into closer relations 
with other colleges and with universities. This 
has meant the frequent visitation of earnest 
and effective Christian men and women who 
are an inspiring and quickening force. It 
has meant, too, the sending of delegates to 

[194] 



CHRISTIAN LIFE AT POMONA 

gatherings devised and carried on for the express 
purpose of educating and stimulating personal 
Christian attainment and the spirit of service. 
These delegations are also helpful by reason of 
their public reports to the student body. Such in- 
tercollegiate activities become a noticeable power 
in an institution, including, as they do, many 
workers deeply interested in and consecrated to 
Christian work, and educated in their methods by 
men specially trained and of wide experience. 
The weekly meetings help to maintain a vigorous 
life, and the work done by committees, the Bible 
study classes and other forms of work are also of 
untold value to the healthy religious life of the 
College. The yearly visits of the classes in sociol- 
ogy, with their professor, to Los Angeles, and 
their stay at the Bethlehem Settlement, the in- 
struction of Dr. Bartlett, and the visits under the 
best of guidance to the various charitable organi- 
zations, penal institutions and courts, with the 
public reports of these visits, have made a lasting 
impression on many minds and hearts. Some 
have been led to dedicate their lives to this spe- 
cific form of work. 

As early as 1890 there were several *^ Student 
Volunteers^' looking forward to missionary work. 
In later years their number has become quite 
large. These young people make a careful study 
not only of the Bible, but of church history and 
the history of missions. Many of Pomona's grad- 

[195] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

uates are now widely scattered over the world, en- 
gaged in missionary work. They, in turn, by their 
lives and their letters, are a helpful influence. 
Sometimes regular missions are maintained by 
students near Claremont, and delegations fre- 
quently go out on invitation, to help a pastor, to 
address audiences, or to sing, as occasions 
demand. 

The student 's point of view may be learned by 
a quotation from the ^ ^ Metate ' ' : ^ ^ Ever since its 
incipiency, the Association has had not only the 
respect and support of the students, but it has 
been the source from which has largely emanated 
that Christian influence for which Pomona Col- 
lege has an enviable reputation. ' ' 

All students are expected to attend some Sun- 
day morning preaching service. For many years 
after the Claremont Church was organized the 
congregation was made up largely of college peo- 
ple. The same statement was true of the Sunday 
school, and of other church appointments, com- 
mittees and organizations, so that the Church was 
little more than a college matter. When Associa- 
tion Bible and mission study classes began to be 
formed, many students, as well as teachers, with- 
drew from the church Sunday school in order 
that a full hour might be given to such classes. 
Later, during three years, the assistant pastor 
was the secretary of the college Young Men^s 
Christian Association. 

[ 196 ] 



CHRISTIAN LIFE AT POMONA 

And this intimate relation of cliurch and college 
has been maintained, notwithstanding the fact 
that by reason of the growth of Claremont, the 
College is now less prominent in the church activi- 
ties. During recent years the character of Dr. 
Kingman's w^ork and the work of the assistant 
pastor have been of such a nature that the Church 
very properly is spoken of as the background of 
the Christian side of the college life. 

The first four pastorates were short. Two of 
them did not call for full work. Rev. C. B. 
Sumner was to give one-half of his time to the 
pastorate and one-half to classroom work. But 
the burden of financial matters and the exacting- 
illness of Mrs. Sumner in their home left little 
time or strength or spirit for either of the 
two works, and he continued in office only about 
fifteen months. Rev. Henry W. Jones, who 
followed, had formally retired from the pastor- 
ate on account of ill health. He came to Clare- 
mont to assume responsibility for the Sunday 
morning services only, without pastoral care. For 
two years he did this work faithfully. His ser- 
mons were prepared carefully, and appealed 
particularly to the older portions of his congrega- 
tions. His refined tastes, his familiarity with lit- 
erature, and his bright, genial qualities added 
greatly to his influence. For a little time he 
taught a class in English in the College, and some 
of the students had very delightful relations with 

£197] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

him. Eev. W. H. McDougal then came, fresh 
and vigorous, and devoted his whole time to 
the pastorate. He was a Californian by birth, 
his father was at one time the governor of the 
State, and he was fully conversant with the his- 
tory of the Pacific Coast. Mr. McDougal was a 
man of the tenderest feelings, of strong imagi- 
nation and of devotional spirit; a poet withal. 
Scholarly in his tastes, thoughtful, and original in 
his way of putting his thoughts, he interested and 
found his way to the hearts of students and citi- 
zens alike. His four years were fruitful in good 
works, and his retirement was heartily re- 
gretted. He left an abiding influence. Rev. 
Henry N. Kinney came then, in physical weak- 
ness, from Phoenix, Arizona, whither he had gone 
for his health after having ministered in an im- 
portant church in Indianapolis, before that hav- 
ing enjoyed a fruitful pastorate in Connecticut. 
While not strong, he was diligent, and did excel- 
lent work in the Claremont Church. He was in 
close sympathy with the students, and made 
friends quickly with all classes of citizens. Both 
in the pulpit and out of the pulpit his influence 
was felt for good, and his short pastorate of a 
year was very successful. One of the good things 
connected with it was the coming of Mrs. Kinney, 
who, with her daughters, remained in Claremont 
for several years after Mr. Kinney's death, and 
who was always ready for every good work, being 

[ 198 ] 



CHRISTIAN LIFE AT POMONA 

especially sympathetic and helpful in the college 
life and undertakings. 

Mr. Kinney was followed in 1900 by Eev. 
Henry Kingman, who now has ministered to the 
Church for thirteen years, and most accept- 
ably. His service to the religious life of the Col- 
lege, directly and through the Church, has been 
beyond estimate. His scholarly habits, choice dic- 
tion, intellectual force and growing spirituality 
command respectful attention and thoughtful con- 
sideration, and have much to do with the religious 
atmosphere of the College. An experience in mis- 
sionary work in China was a peculiarly happy 
preparation for his work here, not only in his 
own personal development, but also in its inci- 
dental influence in bringing many of the strong 
missionaries face to face with the student body. 
Certain it is that a happy missionary spirit is in- 
creasingly evident and fruitful in the College. 
Yet another influence in this direction has come 
from the efforts of Eev. George Irving, for 
two years assistant pastor, and then associate 
pastor with Dr. Kingman. Mr. Irving ^s report 
of January 1, 1912, gave a correct summary of 
the religious spirit of the College at that time, and 
is quoted in part from the ^* Pomona College 
Bulletin '^ 

**It is a pleasure to give to the friends of Po- 
mona this statement regarding the general reli- 
gious life of the College as seen from my point 

[199] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of view. For three years now I have had the 
opportunity of being very closely associated with 
the life of the men and women of the College. For 
the ten years previous to my coming to Claremont 
my life was spent in religious work with students 
in many parts of the country. During that time, 
and since coming to the coast, I have had oppor- 
tunity of seeing at fairly close range the religious 
life of many institutions of varying size and char- 
acter, and can now say with confidence that I have 
never known any college where the general reli- 
gious tone is so high as it is among the students 
of Pomona College. Sometimes the religious life 
of the best college becomes weak and unreal ; but, 
while there is of course great room for improve- 
ment, it is only true to say that reality and 
sincerity are the dominant notes of our college 
community. 

^'The devotional meetings of the Associations 
are well attended and show a well-sustained inter- 
est. Among the men there are over sixty, and 
among the women there are about ninety-five, en- 
rolled in voluntary Bible study classes, which 
have as their plan daily study, with weekly meet- 
ings for conference and discussion. "When we 
remember the large number who go home over 
Sunday, and those who are engaged in teaching 
classes in the Sunday school, this enrollment is 
encouraging. Besides the Bible classes, there are 
^Ye groups studying world missionary problems. 

[200] 



CHRISTIAN LIFE AT POMONA 

From such groups came last year some of our 
very strongest volunteers for foreign missionary 
work. This is only one result of such study.'' 

^ ^ Thinking back over my experience of the past 
three years, and notwithstanding the prejudice in 
favor of large eastern institutions with which I 
came, honesty compels me to say that I know of 
no place in North America where a young man 
may more safely and wisely take his academic 
work than at Pomona College. Indeed, it is well- 
nigh impossible that any normal young man 
should pass through this College without having 
deeply impressed upon him the attractiveness and 
desirability of striving to live the Christian life. ' ' 

This report was written two years ago. It is 
the unanimous judgment of the faculty at the end 
of 1913 that the religious condition of the College 
is quite as favorable at the present time as it has 
ever been in the history of the College. 

The first of January, 1913, Mr. Irving left 
Claremont to return to Young Men's Christian 
Association work, and one of Pomona's gradu- 
ates, Rev. Philip Smead Bird, just graduated 
from Union Seminary, was secured to take 
his place. While Mr. Bird has declined to take 
the position of secretary of the college Associa- 
tion, he enters into very close relations with the 
students, and promises to be not less but, if pos- 
sible, more helpful to the College than his prede- 

[201] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

cessor. He came to the Churcli in May, 1913, for 
one year, and so strong and successful has been 
his work that he has been invited to remain after 
the year ends, as associate pastor, with an in- 
crease of salary. 



[ 202 1 



CHAPTER XIV 

PRESIDENT FERGUSON'S 
ADMINISTRATION 

Change in the presidency of a college, in which 
personality is so prominent a factor, is always a 
serious matter, and the seriousness of such 
change is emphasized in more recent times, by 
reason of the multiplicity of newer educational 
theories and methods. Seven years, the period 
of President Baldwin's administration, is a long 
time in which to impress personality, inculcate 
theories and practice methods in a young institu- 
tion. Any change must almost inevitably bring 
about complications. The transition from Pres- 
ident Baldwin to President Ferguson was a great 
one. The first was scholarly in his tastes, cor- 
dial, and full of personal magnetism; the other 
was of a business turn of mind, quiet, self-con- 
tained and somewhat reserved. The natural bent 
and the training of the one had been along the 
free and liberal lines of conference and of com- 
mittees; that of the other more along lines of 
authority and personal dictation. And yet both 
were strong, self-confident, ambitious of success, 
and indefatigable workers. It was only by the 
exercise of care and tact that the methods of the 

[ 203 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

one gave place to those of the other without open 
collision. Although the feeling had run strong 
and high, and many protests were entered to 
President Baldwin's retirement, when once the 
question was settled, with remarkably few excep- 
tions, all the officers and friends of the College, 
including the retiring president, accepted the in- 
evitable and set themselves to further her inter- 
ests in every way possible. In this respect, taking 
human nature as it is. President Ferguson had 
little occasion for complaint. At the same time, 
his position was not an easy one to fill. 

During the last year and a half of President 
Baldwin's administration, Mr. Ferguson, repre- 
senting the Congregational Education Society, 
came in close touch with Pomona on the financial 
side. The College was carrying on a canvass of 
vital moment. She was a foster-child of the So- 
ciety, and no effort was spared by it to help her. 
Mr. Ferguson went to Chicago and presented her 
needs before Dr. D. K. Pearsons, securing a 
pledge of twenty thousand dollars. In addition 
he visited Dayton, Ohio, examined, and after 
strenuous labors reported favorably upon some 
property of Mr. C. H. Baldwin that was involved 
in the canvass. Later Mr. Ferguson came to 
Claremont and had a conference with the Board 
of Trustees. During the summer after President 
Baldwin's resignation both Mr. Marston and Dr. 
Warren F. Day, of the Board of Trustees, were in 

I 204 J 



PEESIDENT FERGUSON 

the East and conferred with Mr. Ferguson. Thus 
he was well known to the trustees, and came into 
the limelight very quickly after the office of pres- 
ident was vacated. 

The executive committee invited Mr. Sumner, 
who was not at that time on the board of trus- 
tees, to make inquiries by person and letter as to 
Mr. Ferguson's fitness and availability for the 
presidency. The results of his inquiries, mostly 
in the form of letters from persons in important 
positions who had been closely connected with 
him in some relation, were put before the Board 
of Trustees, and with letters from Mr. Marston, 
Dr. Day and Dr. D. K. Pearsons, led to the unan- 
imous election of Mr. Ferguson as president of 
Pomona College. He came on the ground in the 
winter of 1897-98, accepted the office and after a 
short stay returned to close his work with the 
Education Society. This work detained him un- 
til the summer. He was elected to the Board of 
Trustees and made president of the Board. When 
he came to take up the college work he brought 
with him the pledge of Dr. Pearsons for twenty- 
five thousand dollars additional with which to 
build a science hall, conditioned on the payment of 
the college debt. 

After spending a month or two at Claremont, 
and before taking up his residence there. Presi- 
dent Ferguson summed up the assets of the Col- 
lege thus: ^^ Endowment fund, one hundred 

[205] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

thousand dollars; campus and buildings, with 
equipment, fifty thousand dollars; pledge of Dr. 
Pearsons for science hall, twenty-five thousand 
dollars ; Claremont lots, twelve thousand dollars ; 
amounting to one hundred and eighty-seven thou- 
sand dollars.'' He also made this statement as 
to the standing of Pomona, which is significant 
from one so familiar with the history of which he 
speaks: **It is probably not true of any other 
college founded under the auspices of American 
Congregationalism, that within ten years of its 
origin the students in the college classes have out- 
numbered those in the preparatory department." 
President Franklin La Du Ferguson, B.D., of 
Scotch-Irish descent on the side of his father, who 
was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, was born in the Province of Ontario, 
Canada. His mother was a Pomeroy whose ances- 
tor came over in the Mayflower. He studied at Al- 
bert College, now affiliated with the Dominion 
University of Toronto, and left college to enter 
business, having married the daughter of the 
Honorable Samuel Maxwell, Chief Justice of Ne- 
braska, who had represented Nebraska in the Na- 
tional Congress. Mrs. Ferguson was quiet and 
undemonstrative, but a woman of fine, strong 
character, devoted to her family and beloved by 
all. Mr. Ferguson was soon induced to take up 
the profession of his father, and studied for the 
Christian ministry. In 1888 he received the de- 

.[206] 




President Franklin La Du Ferguson 



PEESIDENT FERGUSON 

gree of B. D. from Yale University, and remained 
a year on a fellowship for graduate study. After 
a pastorate at the old and important Congrega- 
tional Church at Milford, Connecticut, he turned 
his attention to education, and took charge of 
Chadron Academy at Chadron, Nebraska. Suc- 
cess here, especially in raising money for the 
academy, led to his transfer to a connection with 
the Congregational Education Society, whose 
headquarters are at Boston, Massachusetts. 

He took up the work at Pomona with a strong 
hand, quickly becoming master of the business 
and gaining some insight into the entire range of 
college affairs. Then from time to time, as en- 
dowment funds came in, he availed himself of the 
experience of others, went about studying condi- 
tions and gradually became conversant with 
investments. He had a committee on finance 
appointed, of which he was the head, which had en- 
tire charge of the endowment funds, and at occa- 
sional meetings of this committee conditions and 
policies were frankly and fully discussed. At 
first, in conformity with the course heretofore 
adopted, he pursued a conservative policy of in- 
vestment. Mortgages, particularly in Los An- 
geles, were taken for one year only. At the time, 
this was quite necessary because of uncertain val- 
ues of real estate. For two years every financial 
interest was personally watched with a closeness 
and scrupulousness that commended itself to 

[207] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

business men. All learned to put confidence in 
his financial judgment and acumen. There was 
no waste. Every dollar was made to bring its 
full value to the College. The building of Science 
Hall is a fair sample of his expenditures. Con- 
ditions were favorable. But when due credit is 
given to every consideration, there still remains 
a structure which for good taste, for elegance, 
for convenience, and for economy of space and 
expenditure, it would be difficult to equal. It 
was a marvel in the day it was built. It is a 
greater marvel today. The same attention was 
given to the building of the president's house and 
the gymnasium. People will hardly credit the 
fact that so much was accomplished for the 
money. 

After the death of Mr. H. G. Billings, a mem- 
ber of the executive committee, Mrs. Billings 
was anxious to dispose of a valuable orchard at 
San Dimas, left in her possession and requiring 
much personal supervision. Accordingly she 
put it into the hands of a real estate agent of Los 
Angeles, proposing to sell it for ten thousand dol- 
lars. She then expressed to the authorities the 
desire to convey the property to the College in 
consideration of an annuity on ten thousand dol- 
lars. President Ferguson and the secretary, un- 
der the direction of the Executive Committee, 
worked very hard to get possession of it, and 
after spending the greater part of a night with 

[ 208 ] 



PRESIDENT FERGUSON 

the agent in question, by paying a thousand dol- 
lars finally secured the title. It proved to be a 
profitable investment, and in a year or two was 
sold for sixteen thousand five hundred dollars. 

On every hand President Ferguson was watch- 
ful of the college interests, and from time to time 
secured assistance from the East and from the 
West, quite a little in the form of annuity funds. 
The Education Society, through his presentation 
of the case, gave the College twelve thousand dol- 
lars ; the Weber estate donated ^ve thousand dol- 
lars ; Mrs. J. M. Fiske gave ten thousand dollars ; 
other gifts, in addition to several scholarships, 
were received; fifteen thousand dollars came in 
from the contract with the Field estate. 

Then President Ferguson secured the consent 
of the Board of Trustees, on the condition that he 
would pay interest, insurance and taxes as 
rental to borrow money at five per cent, with 
which to build the president's house. Miss Har- 
riet Cousens of Newton, Massachusetts, loaned 
the money, to be paid on or before ten years from 
date, and a fine house was built. At her death 
in 1911, Miss Cousens, by her will, gave back to 
the College five thousand dollars of this amount, 
which had been paid before her death. 

Hardly were Pearsons Hall of Science and the 
president's house completed before the demand 
became imperative for a gymnasium. Eager to 
encourage the student body in this respect, the 

[209] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

president told them that he would raise the other 
half if they would raise one half of the moderate 
cost of the building. They soon reported about 
three thousand dollars in sight, and Mrs. Helen 
G. Eenwick very kindly donated twenty-five hun- 
dred dollars for this object. Later she added still 
more to this amount. 

The introduction of a steam plant for the heat- 
ing of Sumner Hall, Science Hall and Holmes 
Hall was appreciated by teachers and students. 
The sense of security in Sumner Hall by reason 
of the removal of the stoves formerly used for 
heating the girls' rooms, was a wondrous relief. 
At the same time, the necessity of having under 
Holmes Hall a boiler which must needs be under 
student care, was regretted, both on account of 
the noise and the danger. This arrangement was 
the stepping-stone to the present much more sat- 
isfactory system of heating and supplying hot 
water and steam as well for the varied necessities 
of the College. 

Enterprise and improvement were manifest on 
the campus, and the endowment funds were stead- 
ily increasing, throughout President Ferguson -s 
administration. In spite of the seeming prosper- 
ity, however, there were still obstacles to be over- 
come. In his second annual report he says: 
*^The endowment fund has been increased by 
eighteen thousand dollars, most of which had 
been pledged the previous year. In addition to 

[ 210 ] 



PEESIDENT FEEGUSON 

the donations for endowment and gymnasium, the 
treasurer will report more than ten thousand dol- 
lars to have been contributed toward current 
expenses and the payment of liabilities. It 
remains true, however, that the gifts for the ordi- 
nary current expenses of the College still fall sev- 
eral thousand dollars short of the necessary 
amount. * ^ 

Mr. Ferguson was ingenious in devices to get 
ready money for the College. He sold scholar- 
ships at a reduced price as one means. But ex- 
perience has taught that this method draws sadly 
on the future income. After a little time the 
Board of Trustees discontinued the practice. An- 
other method used by him was the common one of 
giving annuities on amounts of money paid in, 
or on property deeded to the College. Subsequent 
investigation has led to a very careful reckoning 
of such obligations, and the rejection of some 
propositions as involving too much risk of final 
loss. Perhaps necessarily, nevertheless, unfortu- 
nately, before he came to the presidency, under 
his urgent advice every dollar that could pos- 
sibly be turned into the canvass for securing the 
Field estate fund had been so turned, even to the 
anticipating of several years of the ^* Permanent 
Guarantee Fund'' for meeting deficits. More- 
over, ten thousand dollars which had been put 
into the endowment fund was transferred at the: 
end ofhis second year's administration to current: 

[2H] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

expenses. It is true that the contributors at his 
request consented to this transfer ; and yet it was 
a sad necessity, if indeed a necessity. The ap- 
parent trend was toward the temporary rather 
than the permanent interests of the College. 
However, up to nearly or quite the end of the 
second year of his administration, President 
Ferguson stood strong in the judgment of the 
body of the trustees, especially so from a busi- 
ness point of view. 

In his second annual report, already referred 
to. President Ferguson speaks of the graduating 
class as ^^ fifty per cent, larger than any previous 
class, and to be succeeded by a much larger one.*' 
*^In fact," he says, ^Hhe number which has an- 
nually graduated from Pomona during its brief 
existence has been far in excess of the number 
which young colleges have been wont to send 
forth. There is no parallel in the history of the 
colleges under Congregational auspices in the 
country. Attention has frequently been called to 
the unusually large proportion of alumni who 
have continued courses of study in some univer- 
sity, and have been invited to honorable and lu- 
crative positions.'' 

At the same time with this seeming prosperity 
without and within the institution, there were 
manifestations of lack of confidence in the pres- 
ident's management of internal affairs. In bis 
first address before the student body, during his 

^ [213] 



PRESIDENT FERGUSON 

visit to the College some months before he took 
up the college work, he was reported in the ^ * Stu- 
dent Life'^ as having said that he secured from 
Dr. D. K. Pearsons a pledge of twenty thousand 
dollars, and thereby made possible the secur- 
ing of one hundred thousand dollars for the en- 
dowment fund. An editorial in the succeeding 
number of the ^^ Student Life^^ questions this 
statement, and attributes the securing of the hun- 
dred thousand dollars fund to Dr. Baldwin, who 
w^as president at the time referred to. While there 
was a measure of truth on both sides, the alleged 
discrepancy sounded a note of warning to the new 
president. Nor was the condition improved by his 
immediate request for a censor of the ** Student 
Life.'' For one reason and another, there had 
grown up early the suspicion on the part of the 
student body of a system of espionage introduced 
by the president, and with it signs of distrust. 
Notwithstanding what was done for athletics and 
all the activities on the campus, as the years went 
on the relation of the student body to the presi- 
dent grew more and more strained. At length he 
came to be distrusted apparently by the student 
body. The faculty also was disturbed by a tend- 
ency to treat the teaching force too much from 
the commercial view-point, as emphasized by a 
communication from the Board of Trustees, at- 
tributed to his influence, asking for a reduction 
of salaries, and for the establishment of twenty 

[213] 



STOBY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Hours as the minimum and twenty-five hours as 
the maximum of a teacher ^s work. The reply was 
a ready compliance, * ' temporarily, in case it was 
thought necessary by the Board of Trustees ; but 
with the distinct understanding that they consid- 
ered it lowering the standards of the College.'' 
The salaries were actually lowered one hundred 
dollars for each professor for one year. 

Friction between the dean and the president 
appeared very early. The office of dean at Po- 
mona never had been defined very sharply. "With 
President Baldwin's ideas of a faculty college, 
and his frequent and extended absences from 
Claremont, the office had come to have a wide lat- 
itude. President Ferguson felt that, as con- 
ducted, it entrenched on his prerogatives, and he 
assumed some of the duties that the dean had 
been accustomed to perform. The dean had 
formed very definite convictions in respect to 
college administration. His conception of loy- 
alty to Pomona's interests made it difficult if not 
impossible for him to conform to some of the pres- 
ident 's methods which were widely at variance 
with those convictions. Hence, in spite of well-in- 
tentioned efforts to harmonize, on both sides, the 
tension grew stronger and stronger. Finally 
Professor Norton resigned the deanship, and the 
whole matter was brought before the Board of 
Trustees. The faculty, by committee, presented 
to the Board five resolutions defining the preroga- 

[ 214 ] 



PRESIDENT FERGUSON 

tives of the president and dean as related to each 
other. These definitions were accepted, and after 
full discussion and assurances of cooperation, the 
dean's resignation was withdrawn. 

Efforts begun a year or two before were 
pressed during the third year to revise the by- 
laws, and the changes were under discussion by 
faculty and trustees, but not wholly approved un- 
til after President Ferguson withdrew from the 
College. 

The very last part of the second year and 
throughout the third year of his administration. 
President Ferguson's attitude toward the College 
seemed changed. The College became apparently 
secondary in his consideration. He became in- 
terested in the oil business, in which speculative 
excitement ran high at that time in Los Angeles, 
and sought to interest others, borrowing money 
from friends of the College supposedly to use in 
that business. Mortgages began to be made 
seemingly with less care, and for longer periods. 
At all events, the committee, after discussion, on 
account of the apparent tendency, thought best 
to take no more Los Angeles loans. One or two 
already taken gave some trouble later, and cost 
some money. These new facts, combined with 
others, gave rise to more general criticism. The 
atmosphere about the College slowly but surely 
became surcharged with accusation and counter- 
accusation. The effect was felt in every depart- 

[215] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ment. It pervaded the student body. The fric- 
tion already existing between the student body 
and the president became intensified, and together 
with lack of sympathy with him on the part of 
members of the faculty, led to increasing demor- 
alization which became very marked the last of 
the third year. The whole matter came to a cli- 
max in connection with the Commencement. 
President Ferguson was led to present his resig- 
nation to the Board of Trustees, and with its ac- 
ceptance the board passed, in part, the following 
action : 

*^ Whereas, this board is deeply appreciative 
of the able administration of the financial affairs 
of the College by the retiring president during his 
incumbency; therefore. Resolved: That in accept- 
ing his resignation we hereby express our sense 
of his valuable services to this institution in se- 
curing building and endowment funds, and we 
hereby acknowledge the debt of gratitude we owe 
to him." 

Whatever else may be said of President Fer- 
guson's administration, — and it had its weak- 
nesses, as is sadly emphasized at its close, — it had 
its strength. It was strongly centralized, draw- 
ing together the units and compacting them into a 
dynamic which made itself felt east and west. 
The attention of business men was attracted by 
it, and they became interested in the College as 
they never had been interested before. So strong 

[ 216 ] 



PRESIDENT FERGUSON 

was the central figure that in spite of slips, a fort- 
night before the close of his administration, a 
change of leadership threatened a break, and per- 
haps disruption in the college forces. Happily 
the denouement left no possibility of such divi- 
sion. The College was more united than ever, 
after his withdrawal. 



[217] 



CHAPTEE XV 

ATHLETICS 

Amongst all the diversified changes in the con- 
duct of educational institutions during the last 
twenty-five years, none has been greater or per- 
haps more important than that which pertains to 
the care and training of the physical man. At 
the date of Pomona's organization, college au- 
thorities had just begun to recognize the develop- 
ment of the body as a part of higher education. 
Gymnasium, athletic field, swimming pool, physi- 
cal training, were comparatively new accessories 
to a college outfit. But with surprising celerity 
they came to be regarded as prime essentials to 
the best mental work. No longer could they be 
ignored, much less frowned upon or left to the 
responsibility of the students. They were au- 
thoritatively assumed as needful equipment. 

These accessories were regarded as not pertain- 
ing exclusively to men. They were thought to 
be equally necessary to women. The several 
steps of this great change are marked distinctly 
at Pomona. No longer the pastime of idle hours, 
athletics have come to be regarded as a vital 
part of the college curriculum. 

Natural and pervasive interest in athletics was 

[218] 



ATHLETICS 

manif iest at Pomona from the opening of the 
school. A writer in the ' * Student Life ' ^ in 1898, 
referring to the first days, speaks of the yonng 
ladies as successively and repeatedly trying to 
3ump a hedge in the rear of the college house. 
She also recalls a carefully arranged foot-race by 
these same young ladies, on White Avenue, when 
in their excitement they came to grief through 
frightening a horse attached to a carriage which 
contained several occupants. The first issue of 
^^The Pomona Student'' refers to the tennis club 
and the courts in process of making, and to the 
baseball nine. About the same time a very ear- 
nest appeal came to the authorities from the stu- 
dent body, for at least a room to be used as a 
gymnasium. This occasioned not a little sur- 
prise; but as if to excuse the presumption of the 
request, the students promised to equip it them- 
selves. Without waiting for the room, however, 
in 1890 an athletic association was organized, 
with President Baldwin at the head, with the 
declaration, ** Pomona College has a gymnasium 
as big as all outdoors, and tennis and baseball 
are played throughout the year without interrup- 
tion." The ^^Metate" of 1896 says that this 
organization ** controls all the activities of the 
College. It has done more to make the College 
prominent in Southern California than all other 
student organizations. It has in different years 
organized baseball teams that have rarely been 

[219] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

defeated, and it has built seven tennis courts, but 
it has never trained a football eleven. This is 
largely due to the fact that there has always been 
in the College quite a decided feeling against foot- 
ball. Hard, faithful work has given us triple 
honors in the past. With very few advantages it 
has done good work; with financial difficulties to 
overcome it has done great things ; in the work it 
has had to do it has made its college lead.'' The 
first year of the athletic association one hun- 
dred and forty dollars was raised among the 
students, home field-day was established, and 
out of thirteen games of baseball Pomona won 
eleven. 

That first intercollegiate field-day was a great 
and exciting occasion. Pomona won five events; 
no other of the four institutions represented se- 
cured more than two. ' ^ The intrinsic value of the 
day,'* *'The Pomona Student'' affirms, **was, 
first, its broadening influence as we came in con- 
tact with the outside institutions ; second, the loy- 
alty which was aroused for our own alma mater. ' ' 

Much enthusiasm was awakened, and very 
strenuous work was done by the boys and a con- 
siderable sum of money raised to put the edge of 
the ^*Wash" into condition for an athletic field. 
When the tennis courts were about ready for use, 
the decree went forth that the girls must not play 
so far away from the College. Indignation there- 
upon took the place of enthusiasm, and the **Me- 

[ 220 ] 



ATHLETICS 

tate^' says: ^^The girls forgot the injunction, 
^Let not your angry passions rise!' '' 

Football was played first in 1892. The action 
of the Folk Moot in the fall of 1893 throws some 
light on the status of the game. Rather late an 
eleven got into training and played some strong 
games. Arrangements were made to play with 
the ** Olives,'' a Los Angeles team. President 
Baldwin called a meeting of the Folk Moot, and 
laid before the assembly the following minute: 
^*In view of the present state of public feeling 
against football contests under present rules, — a 
feeling very general and existing among classes 
of men and women who are entitled to the highest 
respect, whether that feeling is founded upon ra- 
tional consideration or not; and in view of the 
universally conceded facts as to certain brutal 
features of the game, which the present rules are 
ineffectual to prevent, and which make the game 
as now played, under the best of conditions, to be 
full of danger to limb and life even; therefore, 
Resolved : That it is the sense of the body of Po- 
mona students and faculty in Folk Moot assem- 
bled. First, that Pomona College hereby records 
its disapproval of all football contests until es- 
sential modifications are made in the rules of the 
game which shall effectually remove the danger 
of undiscovered brutal plays and which shall bar 
certain mass plays, always dangerous to life and 
limb. Second, that in the matter of the game al- 

[ 221 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ready arranged with the ^Olives' of Los Angeled 
for Saturday, December 16th, we ask the college 
team to send the manager of the ^Olives,' C. W. 
Chase, Los Angeles, the following telegram: *The 
decision of the Folk Moot is that the game for 
Saturday be declared off. We yield to that deci- 
sion, and will pay all expenses of advertising thus 
far incurred, that your association may suffer no 
financial loss. Lucius M. Tolman, Captain.' " 
After full discussion the question was divided, 
and the vote first taken was on the preamble and 
the first part of the resolution. The vote stood 
eighteen for and eight against adoption. The 
vote on the second part of the resolution was 
taken on an amendment, making it read, *^The 
^Olives' game will be played.'' The vote stood 
eighty for and five against playing the game. 

For two or three years after this experience, 
football had only moderate support in the College. 
Mr. Van Leuven, a student with athletic training 
who came to the College in 1895, tried with some 
success to revive it. A fairly good team played 
some games. Mr. Van Leuven also made a be- 
ginnihg of systematic physical instruction for 
men and women, but it was several years before 
such training was established. The * ^ Metate ' ' of: 
1896 gives this summary : * ^ Track athletics 
ha^e never failed to be a success at Pomona, and- 
tlimf did liot f ail this year. The field day was: not. 
w-on^by any- 6sp:ecially brilliant p0rf.ai:man6es, but- 

i 222 ] 



ATHLETICS 

by hard, painstaking work, and thanks are due 
the '96 team, not alone by any means for victory 
won, but for a demonstration to coming genera- 
tions that keeping everlastingly at it brings suc- 
cess. Pomona took first place in five events, and 
she took second place in all the rest. ' ' '' Although 
there was no football team the next year, never- 
theless athletics made a decided gain under Mr. 
Van Leuven's guidance, and success came in 
track events both this and the following two 
years, — the last being the sixth time. In football, 
with a strong team under Mr. Allen's coaching, 
we were beaten; also in baseball.'' 

In 1897 Pomona adopted the plan of allowing 
every one who makes the championship team of 
football, baseball or tennis, or who wins a first 
place on intercollegiate field day, the privilege of 
wearing a ''P." In 1898 for the first time Po- 
mona's lawn tennis team played outside teams. 
It gained one game and lost one. Lack of outside 
competition did not prevent more students play- 
ing this game than any other. The intercolle- 
giate tennis league had not been formed. The 
same year the women's basketball team was or- 
ganized, and played with outside teams, but had 
no intercollegiate games. In May of this year a 
strong appeal was made for a gymnasium, and 
some money was raised for the purpose. This 
movement resulted the following year in the Wil- 
liam Eenwick Gymnasium. There was no inter- 

[223] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

collegiate field-day in 1899, since the University 
of Southern California had withdrawn from the 
Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Pomona, 
however, was victorious in all the games played 
with other institutions. 

The next year was characterized by the comple- 
tion and dedication of the gymnasium. The 
building is of wood, except the front, which is of 
plaster on metallic lathing. It is ninety by forty- 
five feet on the floor. At one end is a gallery for 
spectators; at the other end is a second story in 
which are baths, dressing rooms and lockers. Its 
equipment is fairly complete. Mrs. Renwick, a 
large donor toward its cost, later put in two fine 
bowling alleys on the north side of the room, 
which were used for a year or two, but finally 
were removed to accommodate the large gym- 
nastic classes in their mass drill. 

At the dedication of the building. Rev. Robert 
J. Burdette gave the principal address, which was 
characteristic of the man, remarkable for its fine 
spirit, good sense and flashes of incomparable 
humor. 

This gymnasium has been a great gain to the 
college life. It has given fitting room and ap- 
paratus, amidst sanitary conditions, for the physi- 
cal development of the students, and even more, 
has made possible and lent dignity to prescribed 
exercises for the whole college body, thus lifting 
this important part of education into a recognized 

[224] 



ATHLETICS 

department of the College. Twelve years of ex- 
perience fully corroborate a statement made by 
President Ferguson, namely, *'It is not too much 
to affirm that no other form of investment of five 
thousand dollars could have made a richer con- 
tribution to the wholesome life of the student 
body, or the most permanent welfare of the insti- 
tution. '* This affirmation is emphasized by the 
change of sentiment in the College, and the 
growth in the demand for athletic conveniences 
and opportunities. 

In 1899 and several following years Pomona 
came to her own in footbalL In 1900 Pomona ^s 
goal was not crossed in the seven games played. 
Perkins, Blount and Wharton were the coaches 
in successive years. In track for the eleventh 
successive year, in baseball and tennis, Pomona 
was likewise successful. 

The year 1903 marked an era in athletics. The 
College then, at the suggestion of the Athletic 
Association, began collecting from each student 
five dollars a year as athletics fee, and employ- 
ing both physical director and coach. The name 
of Walter Hempel was the first to appear in the 
catalogue as director of the gymnasium. He in- 
stituted regular physical instruction and practice 
for the young men and young women. Physicians 
were secured, physical examinations were re- 
quired, and the department was carried on in 
a very careful and systematic manner. Mr. 

[225] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Hempel was a good trainer and coach, and ath- 
letics were made much more prominent than ever 
before. The second year of his work, the **Me- 
tate'^ says, was ^'the most successful one in the 
history of the Athletic Association. It embraced 
eight track records. ' ' The plan adopted the year 
before was satisfactory to every one. Much credit 
was given to Mr. Hempel. This year the block 
*'P'^ was set apart for football, and special 
<<p>g>> made to distinguish each of the other 
branches of athletics. 

The completion of the Alumni Athletic Field 
under the direction of Professor Arthur Smith 
in 1906 was an event of importance. It was a 
great task, including the removal of an incon- 
ceivable number of stones from the grounds, and 
the bringing in of a large amount of suitable soil. 
The work was done thoroughly and was most 
creditable and satisfactory. The field is ideal in 
location, adjoining the gymnasium, and in com- 
pleteness and finish it is unsurpassed. Water 
was brought in pipes, the field well drained, and 
every provision made to keep it in repair. 
Bleachers were constructed looking across the 
field, over the parking place for carriages and 
automobiles and the enclosing hedge, up to the 
foothills, with one of the very finest views of * * Old 
Baldy.'' Just back of the bleachers is the base- 
ball diamond, with its own bleachers, — also an 
ideal field. 

[ 226 ] 



ATHLETICS 

After phenomenal victories for years, there 
were two or three years of less success, although 
good work was done under Hastings and Noble 
as coaches, and under Noble alone, followed by 
Pierce. In 1906-07 the track team won wide- 
spread plaudits, making four Southern California 
intercollegiate records, three of which were also 
Pacific Coast intercollegiate records. Again in 
1907-08 the track team was successful, adding 
more records; baseball also was victorious. Ar- 
thur Claude Braden came as physical director in 
1906 and continued two years. Mr. Braden was 
an admirable director and a Christian gentleman, 
esteemed by the faculty and the whole student 
body. The ^'Metate'' of ^09 says of him: '^Mr. 
Braden has put into his work the earnest efforts 
of a wide-awake Christian athlete. He has crys- 
tallized and augmented in the minds of the men 
under his charge, and indeed throughout the 
whole student body, the necessity of pure athlet- 
ics. His strong, persistent plea throughout all 
his occupations, whether on the field, in the gym- 
nasium, or at the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation meetings, for men to keep not only their 
souls but also their bodies strong and clean, will 
sound in our hearts for many years to come.*' 
It was with universal regret that he left, in order 
to carry out his plan for an investigating trip 
around the world. 

Mr. William Layton Stanton, B.A., was en- 

[ 227 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

gaged as physical director in 1908. He has 
proven a great acquisition to Pomona. He is 
successful in training his large classes, and in 
maintaining interest and enthusiasm. As coach, 
in football and in track athletics, he wins and re- 
tains the confidence of the teams and the whole 
college to a remarkable degree. Few have his 
ability to inspire men. He is never at a loss. If 
good material drops out at graduation, he finds 
new, and somehow produces strong teams. A 
long list of successful men and a goodly number 
of teams under his training might be mentioned. 
Always insisting on high ideals, he lifts his de- 
partment into a place of respect and dignity. 
Together with his success in physical training, 
Mr. Stanton has been very helpful to the students 
in putting upon the stage their plays. As a well- 
rounded man few physical directors and coaches 
equal Mr. Stanton. 

As early as 1902-03, Miss Frances E. Gardner 
was employed as physical trainer for young 
women, with a good measure of success; but she 
left at the end of the year to graduate at Stan- 
ford, where physical training is accredited as a 
part of the curriculum to an extent which Po- 
mona never has allowed. Not until 1909 was the 
permanent policy inaugurated of having a woman 
as physical director of women. At that time 
Miss Maude Allene Monroe, a graduate of Ober- 
lia^ took up the work and carried it on for a year, 

[ 228 ] 



ATHLETICS 

when Miss Laura Charlton Squire, one of Po- 
mona's own graduates, who had taken special 
training work in this department at the Univer- 
sity of California, was made physical director 
and continued for two years with acceptance. At 
her own request she then was accorded leave of 
absence for study of physical training at Welles- 
ley College, and Miss Edna Lee Eoof, a Po- 
mona graduate as well, took her place. The 
exhibitions of Miss Squire's training were very 
creditable, and afforded great satisfaction. In 
like manner Miss Roof has done good work. Her 
training of the dancers for the pageant was most 
excellent. 

In a 1912 ^'Metate'' article on *'The Advance 
of Athletics'' are significant statements from the 
students' standpoint: ^^The era of the Greater 
Pomona began with the time when we engaged a 
coach who was to be permanent. ... In the past 
three years we have turned out a championship 
football team twice, a championship baseball 
team three times, and a team rightly deserving 
the track championship the past year. But the 
change which means the most to the school is to 
be found in the attitude of the student body. 
Every man is headed forward; the whole ten- 
dency is to progress." 

Later, on the recommendation of a committee 
from trustees, faculty, alumni and student body, 
the annual five dollar fee was superseded by set- 

[ 229 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ting apart yearly three per cent, of the amount 
received for tuitions as a fund to be used for the 
athletic interests of the students. This fund has 
paid the physical director and the coach. 



[230] 



CHAPTER XVI 

WOEKING HALLS 

At the outset Sumner Hall was verily a work- 
ing hall in the broadest sense. It housed every 
department and every function of the College. 
It is now simply a dormitory, with recreation and 
entertainment rooms, and as such has been 
treated in another chapter. 

Assuming competent and efficient teachers 
and a suitable library, nowhere are the disad- 
vantages and crippling effects of poverty in a 
young college so bitterly felt as in cramped, in- 
convenient, uncomfortable and poorly equipped 
working halls. Good work is possible under ad- 
verse conditions, if the instructor has the rare 
adaptive ability, the persistent fidelity and the in- 
ventive skill shown by some of Pomona's teach- 
ers. But the average state University man, 
looking over Pomona's facilities from time to 
time in the past, might have pronounced good 
work impossible. What, for instance, had Pro- 
fessor Brackett in the shape of scientific equip- 
ment in Claremont Hall? How could he do good 
work in astronomy before the Observatory was 
built and equipped? Again, how could Profes- 

[ 231 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

sor Hitchcock do good work in chemistry in 
Holmes Hall basement? Or in physics without 
any apparatus? How could Professor Cook do 
good work without microscopes in his room in 
Holmes Hall? And yet these men did remark- 
ably fine work, and with others helped to give 
Pomona her reputation. 

In these days of specialization requiring so 
much apparatus, a building, to be perfectly 
suited to any department, must be specially 
planned and equipped for that department. A 
part of a building intended for another purpose 
may be adjusted to a required use for a time, 
but always with drawbacks unless the teacher is 
unusually resourceful. Crowding, however, is 
always bad ; often it is fatal to high efficiency. 

Two business men in a street car some years 
ago paid their fares, each with a commutation 
ticket, while a woman with a market basket paid 
her fare in money, about twice as much as the 
commutation rate. One of the men quietly said 
to his companion, **How true it is that the ruin 
of the poor is their poverty." In the case of 
teacher and taught, however, if really in earnest, 
poverty may bring some compensation. The 
great thing to be sought in life is character. 
Obstacles surmounted, disadvantages overcome, 
develop character in teacher and student. Char- 
acter in teacher and student means character in 
an institution. In the long run, does not charac- 

[232] 



WORKING HALLS 

ter in an educational institution imply scholar- 
ship, even if character be a ** by-product," as 
President Wilson contends ? 

The boys were crowded out of Claremont Hall 
at the beginning of the second year. By the third 
year it was full of girls, and the recitation rooms 
were insufficient in number and all were over- 
crowded. Commodious as the hall was at first, 
with thirty or forty students doing little but pre- 
paratory work, it was totally inadequate at every 
point for one hundred and fifty, including two 
college classes. The demands for added room 
were numerous and most insistent. The new 
hall must provide for a multitude of necessities. 
Mrs. and Miss Holmes of Monson, Massachu- 
setts, referred to in chapter twenty-six, learning 
and appreciating the extremity of the College, 
kindly proposed to give the money required 
for a new hall. As soon as funds were assured, 
preparations were made for the Cyrus W. Holmes, 
Jr., Hall. Mr. C. H. Brown of Los Angeles was 
employed as architect, and most faithfully did he 
work with the committee in trying to meet the 
needs. The pledge was to be paid in five annual 
installments, so that it must be discounted for im- 
mediate use. It was found that the money avail- 
able was insufficient for the erection of a hall of 
adequate size of brick or stone. By reason of 
business depression in Southern California, build- 

[233] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ing was at its lowest ebb. In Los Angeles many 
builders had large amounts of lumber in stock 
which they could ill afford to carry. Here was 
the chance to get what seemed to be absolutely in- 
dispensable. A thoroughly reliable man was 
found who would build at cost, charging only 
wholesale prices for his lumber. The contract 
was a surprise, and it was honorably and consci- 
entiously carried out. Mr. John Hanlon of Los 
Angeles, the contractor, worked with the archi- 
tect and committee, and the result was a very eco- 
nomical, well-built and capacious hall, supplying 
a wide range of wants, and making reasonable 
provision for the added room needed. 

The main building had two stories, a partial 
basement and a bell tower. The halls were large, 
well lighted and airy. A chemical laboratory 
was arranged in the basement ; on the main floor 
were seven recitation rooms and two offices; on 
the second floor seven recitation rooms and two 
offices. A beautiful and commodious chapel, with 
seating capacity for three hundred persons, occu- 
pied the ell extending toward the east. The walls 
were covered with alpine plaster about as hard 
as cement, and the finish was redwood. The 
building was at first heated by the hot water sys- 
tem and lighted by kerosene lamps. A little later 
it was heated by steam and lighted by electricity. 

The money needed for furnishing the hall was 
obtained by solicitation. The chapel was sup- 

[234] 



WORKING HALLS 

plied with opera chairs; the recitation rooms at 
first with plain chairs, later with tablet arm- 
chairs. The floors of the halls and the aisles were 
covered with hemp matting, suitable desks and 
tables were provided, and very soon a large reed 
organ was put into the chapel. One room was 
enclosed in brick for the use of the library; one 
was used for a reading-room, one for the busi- 
ness office, one for a society room. A bell was 
given for the tower— the college bell, whose tones 
would be recognized by every alumnus. When 
complete, the general effect was neat, comfort- 
able, expansive, and well adapted to the demands. 

The dedication took place early in January, 
1893. In spite of the rain, which came down in 
torrents, guests in large numbers came from Los 
Angeles, Riverside, Ontario, Pomona and other 
cities, quite filling the new chapel. Rev. C. 0. 
Brown, D.D., of San Francisco, gave the address. 
The secretary, in behalf of the donors, made the 
presentation; Mr. Bent for the trustees received 
the keys. Ex-president Brooks of Tabor College 
offered the prayer of dedication; Mr. and Mrs. 
Brannan, Miss Brannan and Professor Bissell, 
with a student chorus, furnished the music. A 
lunch was served at the noon hour. 

The ^* Student Life'' says respecting the hall: 
**The long expected has happened. We are oc- 
cupying our new building. Conspicuous as the 
shapely structure is among the other objects of 

[235] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

the landscape, it is doubtless destined to play a 
still more prominent part as a promoter of the 
general welfare of the college. Every branch of 
the college will take on new dignity and will feel 
a new impetus, and we shall have as a result in- 
creased standing with men and institutions 
abroad. The item of convenience to ourselves 
hardly needs to be touched upon. 

**In its influence upon the social life of the stu- 
dents, the benefit to be derived from the new 
building can hardly be estimated. The literary 
societies are already feeling the stimulus of their 
new surroundings. ... As a new church home 
alone, the chapel would mark an epoch. No de- 
partment of the College rejoices more at the 
change than does the conservatory'' of music, 
*^and so we all rejoice together.'' 

The value of the Chapel to the Claremont 
Church, and so to the community for a dozen 
years, until a meetinghouse could be built, can- 
not be estimated. With the drain upon the citi- 
zens to keep the College alive, it was impossible 
for some time to build a church home, and in the 
Chapel were found ample accommodations for re- 
ligious services on Sundays and on week days. 
It helped wonderfully to keep the College and the 
community in sympathy, and in this way has been 
a tower of strength to the College. 

Six years later, when Pearsons Hall of Science 
was dedicated, providing for the departments of 

[ 236 ] 



WORKING HALLS 

chemistry, biology and physics, the library, read- 
ing room and business office were removed thither, 
for the sake of greater security and better accom- 
modations, and also to vacate rooms in Holmes 
Hall that were much needed for recitation 
purposes. 

In 1904 the Chapel was outgrown, and by the 
kindness of Miss Holmes it was nearly doubled 
in size, two small music rooms were added at the 
east end, and more room was provided in the 
basement. 

Again, when the library building was in condi- 
tion for use, the society room in Holmes Hall was 
vacated, to give a place for the art department; 
and the Young Men's Christian Association, the 
department of astronomy, and in part the depart- 
ments of mathematics, of economics and of Eng- 
lish, left Holmes Hall in order to meet the fur- 
ther requirements for recitation rooms. Later, 
with the occupation of Rembrandt Hall, the art 
department was removed thither for the same 
reason. 

Every college building has its own special asso- 
ciations. Sumner Hall has the advantage of 
first things, and the combination which came 
when everything, night and day and Sunday, was 
concentrated under one roof. Holmes Hall has 
known nothing of the boarding and dormitory 
life, but everything else in student life has its 
associations with Holmes Hall — recitations, mu- 

[ 237 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

sic, art, reading room, library, literary societies, 
social functions, daily chapel, Sunday services 
and other forms of religious conference. Every 
room and hall has its own peculiar associations, 
serious or amusing, of encouragement or discour- 
agement, of victory or defeat. Mischief has been 
planned and executed, out of fun rather than 
malice. The bell tongue has been spirited away, 
to be found years after in a distant reservoir. 
The chapel Bible has been abstracted — it is to be 
hoped for private reading and study. The regis- 
trar's safe, with labor more severe than football, 
has been hidden from the piercing eye of the dean, 
to be discovered when the joke had gone far 
enough. It is not recorded how many raids for 
Hallowe'en sport, and with more questionable 
purpose, on near-by orchards, have been con- 
cocted here. 

All this lighter vein has been occasional, while 
the more serious activities have been continuous 
day by day throughout the years. One has been 
cheered by reports of good scholarship, or 
shamed by a warning from the dean; one made 
good resolutions, kept them honestly for a time, 
then broke them ; one turned over a new leaf, en- 
tered upon a new, higher, richer life, and has ever 
since been reaping the fruits in larger manhood 
or womanhood. How many words of life have 
been spoken, how many mighty prayers of inter- 
cession have been lifted up in that chapel and in 

[ 238 ] 



WORKING HALLS 

some of the smaller rooms! How many have 
been inspired by the eager attention of the stu- 
dent body, and in turn have inspired their 
hearers ! 

Not all the conferences have been of a serious 
character. The song and the cheer have not been 
wanting. Victories in oratory and debate and 
athletics as well, have been won by the plans con- 
ceived, the work done and the enthusiasm inspired 
in this hall, and here they have been celebrated. 

Who can tell where and when the tides of be- 
neficent influence, started so early in the life of the 
College, shall cease to flow? How little has the 
material of the building to do with the usefulness 
of the structure ! How supremely effective timeli- 
ness in giving may be ! Pomona College could not 
have been what it is, quite possibly could not have 
continued to exist, without Holmes Hall. How 
rich and grand, especially, these gifts of early 
years, which so largely determine the character 
of the institution. 

D. K. Pearsons Hall of Science, the third of 
Pomona's important buildings, was completed 
and dedicated in 1899. In 1893, while the friends 
of the College were rejoicing in the all-sufficient 
provision for their present needs through the new 
Holmes Hall, the prophet who perchance sug- 
gested the possibility that within ^ve years the 
College would be so far developed, and crowded 

[239] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

so sadly, that the demands for a science hall could 
no longer be denied, would have been thought to 
lack good, sound common sense. 

Yet so President Ferguson found it in 1897, and 
set himself resolutely to supply the need. Un- 
der his presentation of the facts and his persua- 
sion, Dr. Pearsons was led to appreciate this 
need, and with that very shrewd foresight which 
characterized all his gifts he gave to the new pres- 
ident the following pledge: **When all the debts 
of Pomona College are paid, all current expenses 
met, then and not till then will I give you twenty- 
five thousand dollars for the purpose of building 
a science hall for the benefit of Pomona College. 
Truly, D. K. Pearsons. ' ' This document, so clear 
and specific, elicited the following action from the 
Board of Trustees at a meeting held January 11, 
1898: *^ Whereas Dr. D. K. Pearsons, in that 
munificent spirit which has so bountifully blessed 
the cause of Christian education all over the land, 
has not only made a subscription of twenty thou- 
sand dollars to the endowment fund of Pomona 
College (which he has already paid), but has fur- 
ther given a pledge to build for the College a 
science hall costing not less than twenty-five 
thousand dollars, attaching to this proposition the 
condition that we first provide for the extinction 
of the debt, therefore be it Eesolved: That the 
Board of Trustees of Pomona College hereby ex- 
press to Dr. D. K. Pearsons their grateful appre- 

[ 240 ] 



WORKING HALLS 

elation of his generous provision for the needs of 
the college, and their determined purpose to ful- 
fill the conditions upon which the latter gift was 
made as soon as possible. '^ 

The conditions ' were met with surprising 
promptness, and the Building Committee went to 
work on the plans. By exchange of lots the right 
location was secured, and Mr. C. H. Brown was 
again employed as architect. After careful dis- 
cussion, the plain classical style was decided upon 
as best suited for the permanent use of the Col- 
lege. President Ferguson then, with the Com- 
mittee and the architect, made a very thorough 
study of the internal structure, with a view to 
meeting the necessities in the most artistic, con- 
venient and economical manner. The result was 
most happy. The hall, built of straw-colored 
Milwaukee pressed brick, two stories high, with a 
basement under the whole building, with heavy 
cornice, deep-set multiform windows, stately en- 
trance and red tile roof, is simple, yet substantial 
and satisfying in appearance. Whatever the 
other buildings on the campus in the future, of 
this one Pomona will never be ashamed. The 
building is semi-fireproof. Every part was up to 
date, at the time, from a scientific standpoint. 
The basement is given up to chemistry, the first 
floor adapted to physics, and the second story to 
biology and a museum. The lower hall at the en- 
trance has floor, stairs and wainscoting of oak, 

[241] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

and is spacious and well lighted. So, too, the 
business office and what was the president's room 
were finished in oak, by the kindness of the con- 
tractor, Mr. C. J. Kubach, of Los Angeles. The 
whole structure, in appearance and stability, is a 
credit to the architect and the contractor. The 
same building today would cost nearly twice as 
much. The furnishing is in harmony with the 
building. 

The dedication was a marked occasion, bring- 
ing together alumni and friends of the College, 
with representatives from the universities and 
colleges of the whole State. Opening with the 
hymn, *^0 Worship the King,'' Dr. McLean fol- 
lowed with the reading of Scriptural selections 
and prayer. The Choral Union sang the anthem, 
* ^ Thou Shalt Keep Him in Perfect Peace. ' ' Pres- 
ident Ferguson then, on behalf of the donor, made 
the presentation address, to which Dr. Warren F. 
Day responded for the Board of Trustees. The 
scientific department was represented in an ad- 
dress by Professor Hitchcock, and the prayer of 
dedication was led by Dr. L. H. Frary. After the 
singing of the hymn, *^The Spacious Firmament 
on High," the audience adjourned to the Chapel 
and listened to a scholarly address by Professor 
Thomas B. Bacon, of the University of California, 
on ** Natural Science as a Factor in Education." 
Lunch was served, and in the afternoon Professor 
Walter Miller, of Stanford University, delivered 

[ 242 ] 



WORKING HALLS 

an address of great interest on * * The Old and the 
New in Education." Congratulations were re- 
ceived from the representatives of other Southern 
California institutions. ^^Thus closed a day,'^ 
says the *^ Student Life'' in a vein fairly repre- 
sentative, ^^rich in expressions of praise for the 
work done by Pomona College, but richer in the 
augury of things yet to be in the history of this 
institution, whose work, though marked, has 
really just begun." And again, *^The sense of 
opening opportunity, the pure pleasure of seeing 
things grow, is not the least of the joys in attend- 
ing a young college. ' ' 

The relief given by this new hall was second 
only to the wider relief given by Holmes Hall. 
The convenience and added facilities afforded 
the science department could hardly be over- 
estimated. 

The Frank P. Brackett Observatory brings the 
history down eleven years, to the beginning of 
the era of the Greater Pomona. 

Early in the year 1892 Mr. Thomas Barrows, 
through the personal solicitation of friends, was 
instrumental in securing for the College a second- 
hand telescope, with a six-inch object glass, pro- 
nounced by Messrs: Alvin Clark & Sons, the 
makers, ^^one of our best." One eyepiece mag-ni- 
fied four hundred and forty times,— :'^ rather, high 
for the .moon, and the planets, but. just the. thmg 

1^3] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

for double stars," according to Mr. Clark. The 
instrument was in use, while unmounted, for 
nearly two years. A pier and platform — all that 
was permissible in that situation — were then built 
on the northeast corner of the library block, for 
temporary use. This was verily a rude structure, 
both in appearance and for convenience; never- 
theless it was fairly accurate and solid in its con- 
struction, so that some creditable work was done 
which received favorable notice. At that time 
this was the only work of the kind done in the 
southern part of the State. 

So utterly inadequate were the accommoda- 
tions, and so ugly was this structure on the 
campus, that the Science Club, under the lead of 
Professor Brackett, early began to plan for an 
observatory for astronomical purposes. Disap- 
pointment after disappointment came, and no 
progress was made. The College was growing so 
rapidly and the demands were so many and vari- 
ous that it was impossible to concentrate on the 
Observatory. Meantime the graduating classes 
were showing more and more interest in astron- 
omy. One of the graduates, Mr. Llewellyn Bixby, 
of the class of 1901, six years after graduation 
generously gave the funds for a small but very 
complete working observatory. The structure 
was designed by Professor Brackett, built of field 
stone and concrete, and surmounted by a dome- 
room and revolving dome. It. was intended espe- 

[244] 



WORKING HALLS 

cially to be of service to the students in the study 
of the stars, while it was also fitted for the study- 
ing of the sun. Delightfully located among the 
trees, and towering well above them on the little 
table-land in Blanchard Park, it is decidedly pic- 
turesque. A new equatorial telescope with a 
Clark objective of six inches' clear aperture, and 
a mounting which includes driving clock and other 
modern conveniences, made by William Goertner 
of Chicago, takes the place of the old one, now 
ruined. A three-inch astronomical transit and 
chronograph, both made by the Goertner Com- 
pany, were presented by Miss Martha N. Hatha- 
way and Mr. George H. Bixby. A standard Eiefler 
clock for mean solar time has been installed in the 
clock room, and a less expensive clock for sidereal 
time will be used until means are provided for 
another high-grade clock to accompany the 
Eiefler. 

** Judge Charles E. Harwood and others have 
provided means for an instrument of the coelostat 
type to be used in the spectroscopic study of the 
sun. It employs an object glass of six inch aper- 
ture and forty feet focal length.'' 

After the completion of the Observatory, time 
was given for the furnishing and equipment, so 
far as it has gone, before the day of dedication, 
when the Library and Smiley Hall were also 
dedicated. 

In anticipation of the dedication of the Observ- 

[245] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

atory, Mr. George Ellery Hale, LL.D., of the 
Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, delivered an 
address the evening before on ^^The Relationship 
of Astronomy to Other Branches of Science, as 
Illustrated by Recent Solar Discoveries.'' The 
address was illustrated with stereopticon views, 
and made very clear the advance in the methods 
of astronomical research by means of the spectro- 
heliograph, of which he is the inventor. He also 
described some of the recent very important dis- 
coveries made on Mount Wilson. 



[246 ] 



CHAPTER XVII 

PRESIDENT GATES' ADMINISTRATION 
When President Ferguson's administration 
was ended it required little time or thought to de- 
termine the general type of the successor needed. 
There was no difference of opinion. All wanted 
an educator as a leader. The Board of Trustees 
rallied as one man. They felt their strength as 
never before. Pomona was making progress in 
spite of discouragements. They were insistent 
on securing a high type of the Christian scholar 
to meet the emergency. Unwilling to rely on writ- 
ten testimony alone, they sent the secretary East 
to make inquiries concerning men whose names 
had been suggested. After a very thorough 
search, occupying some months of time and 
much travel, the secretary returned and pre- 
sented his report, with much written testimony, 
and George A. Gates, D.D., LL.D., was unani- 
mously elected president of the College. Having 
accepted the position, he took up the work on the 
first of January, 1902. When he came on the 
ground he was elected a member of the Board of 
Trustees and made president of the corporation. 
By both education and experience he was admira- 
bly fitted for his position. 
Dr. Gates was born on a farm at Topsham, Ver- 

[247] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

mont, January 24, 1851. His father died when he 
was quite young ; his mother is a woman of clear, 
well-poised, active mind unusual for her age. He 
was graduated at Dartmouth College in the class 
of 1873, studied in German universities, and was 
graduated at Andover Theological Seminary in 
1880. After a pastorate of seven years in a new 
church field at Upper Montclair, New Jersey, he 
became president of Iowa College at Grinnell, 
Iowa, in 1887, where he continued thirteen years, 
until it was demonstrated that Mrs. Gates could 
not live at Grinnell on account of asthma. He 
then accepted the pastorate of the Congregational 
Church at Cheyenne, Wyoming, which he resigned 
to return to college life at Pomona. The degree 
of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by 
Dartmouth in 1892, and he received the degree of 
Doctor of Laws from the University of Nebraska 
in 1893. 

While living at Montclair he married Miss Is- 
abel Smith of Syracuse, New York, an attractive, 
cultivated and quietly effective woman, who was 
to him in the broad sense a helpmeet in every sit- 
uation in which he was placed. In spite of her 
own delicate health after the fateful accident 
which ultimately caused his death, throughout his 
long-continued and most trying illness her cour- 
age and efficiency were sufficient for every exi- 
gency. In Claremont she was a favorite, and a 
strong factor in the development of the charac- 

[248] 



PRESIDENT GATES 

ter of the college women. Two children survive 
President Gates — Stanley, a graduate of Dart- 
mouth, and Donald, now in school in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. 

When for the first time President Gates stood 
on the platform at Pomona before the faculty and 
the student body, he was so much at home, so fa- 
miliar with college life and college problems, that 
his eloquent address gave great satisfaction. 
Evidently an educator was at the helm, and the 
ship was in experienced and skillful hands. The 
members of the faculty were pleased and filled 
with new courage. From this time on, they with 
rare exception were one with him. The president 
was with them and one of them. He was a fel- 
low teacher, and wished to be a guide and a leader 
rather than a commander. The students were 
delighted with and proud of their new president. 
As they met him personally, he was so open, 
frank and cordial, so sympathetic and helpful, 
and so accessible, that they loved and trusted 
him as a friend. His admonitions and appeals 
were rarely in vain. The Friday morning talks 
which had been such a feature of his work at 
Grinnell were resumed at Pomona. At first they 
were new, unique, and well received. Often they 
were particularly forceful, educative and uplift- 
ing. He always felt that here was his greatest 
strength ; here he gripped, controlled and molded 
the life of the student body. 

[ 249 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

President Gates' reputation as a speaker and 
an educator came before him. In a surprisingly 
short time he was in demand in churches, at edu- 
cational gatherings, and wherever popular ad- 
dress was called for. His ability was recognized 
everywhere. His intimate connection with Pro- 
fessor Herron in the past was held against him 
by a few persons ; but he openly repudiated much 
of Professor Herron 's teaching and practice, and 
gave little new occasion for criticism. This slight 
distrust, however, was never wholly removed 
from the minds of those few. 

It was not long before a great and radical 
movement on behalf of the College was at- 
tempted — namely, the payment by the Congrega- 
tional churches of Southern California of all 
accumulated indebtedness, amounting at that time 
to sixty-seven thousand dollars. "While the move- 
ment was not inaugurated by him, nor the plan 
of canvass conceived or put into operation pri- 
marily by him, nevertheless the favorable impres- 
sion President Gates had made on the student 
body and on the constituency of the College, and 
especially a powerful address the first night of 
his appearance before the General Association of 
Congregational Churches at its annual meeting 
at Ventura, were a background without which 
success would have been impossible. Before all 
else he secured the promise of fifty thousand dol- 
lars from Dr. Pearsons, conditioned on the pay- 

, [ 250 ] 



PRESIDENT GATES 

ment of the debt, which pledge was the primary 
incentive to the undertaking of the campaign.* 

A folder used in that canvass, begun nearly a 
year after the president came to Pomona, says: 
*^The new administration has given the college a 
rapid movement forward. Its enrollment today 
is two hundred and sixty-eight ; a freshman class 
of sixty-five : an increase of sixty per cent. ' ^ 

In the spring following, Theodore Roosevelt, 
President of the United States, on his visit to the 
Pacific Coast, influenced by a personal letter from 
President Gates, stopped at Claremont. The of- 
ficers of the College, the student body, and a large 
concourse of people met Mr. Roosevelt and his 
party at the station and accompanied them to the 
college grounds. In front of Science Hall a plat- 
form had been built, around which the students 
had twined the Harvard and Pomona colors be- 
neath the United States flag. Seven or eight 
thousand persons gathered about the student 
body to see and hear. The President was greeted 
with the Harvard cheer and the Pomona cheer, 
and the Harvard song as well as the Pomona song 
was sung. His address was one of his best, and 
was afterward printed in a folder and widely dis- 
tributed. A live-oak was planted by him in front 
of Science Hall. 

The acquisition of Blanchard Park about this 
time, and the consequent construction of the 

* Chapter XXVII. 

[251] 



STOBY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Alumni Athletic Field, with its bleachers and 
training quarters, were events of no mean signif- 
icance. The connection of Mr. Blanchard's 
name with the Park came about through Mrs. 
Gates. Soon after the College gained possession 
of the land constituting the Park, while visiting at 
Mr. Blanchard's home, she spoke of the fitness 
of some one's assuming the cost of the Park 
and its development. The idea appealed to Mr. 
Blanchard, and later the suggestion was acted 
upon. 

The construction of the Athletic Field was a 
natural necessity when the land adjacent to the 
Gymnasium came into the hands of the College. 
The alumni took it up at once. A notable achieve- 
ment also was the building of the general heating 
plant intended to furnish heat, and hot water as 
it might be needed, for all the present and fu- 
ture buildings. It was a costly work, involving 
a tunnel and numerous appointments; but for 
convenience and economy it was one of the best 
undertakings the College ever attempted. 

During the earlier years of his administration, 
President Gates was asked to read a paper before 
the National Congregational Council at Des 
Moines, Iowa; to preach the one-hundredth- anni- 
versary sermon before the American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions at Williams- 
town, Massachusetts ; and later to preach the an- 
nual sermon before the Congregational Home 

[252] 



PEESIDENT GATES 

Missionary Society at Portland, Oregon. He 
filled these appointments acceptably and with 
honor to himself and to the College. His ability 
was thus widely recognized, and the College 
brought into corresponding prominence. 

One great achievement of this administration 
was the securing of the Carnegie Library, with 
its endowment. It was a long, slow, tedious 
process, but the final result was most satisfying. 
President Gates* personal solicitation gained the 
grant of forty thousand dollars, instead of 
twenty-five thousand as at first proposed. 

As in the case of all the advances so far, this 
step was forced upon the College. The increase 
in numbers had been so rapid that the accommo- 
dations were utterly inadequate. Especially the 
library facilities so essential to the college of to- 
day were entirely insufficient. 

It took time to raise the library endowment,* as 
well as to secure a satisfactory proposition. Thus 
two years or more were spent in getting ready to 
build. The process of building of reinforced 
concrete at that date was attended with many 
difficulties, besides the peculiar complications 
which arose. Another year and more passed be- 
fore the building was ready for occupancy. From 
the first the satisfaction found in its use was 
great. It wrought a complete transformation 
in the College. The benefits pertained to every 

* Chapter XXVIL 

[ 253 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

department, and so to the whole student body, as 
well as to the members of the faculty. 

The assurance of a fine library proved a tonic 
in every direction. Other needed improvements 
seemed possible. The boarding department had 
outgrown Sumner Hall, and the plan for a new 
commons with an inn attachment was devised and 
executed. The building of this structure, and the 
consequent transformation and enlargement of 
Sumner Hall, were among the most far-reaching 
and effective events of these stirring times. The 
commons and the inn contributed so much to the 
comfort and enjoyment of the student body, es- 
pecially to the young women, to say nothing of the 
added convenience which they afforded to the cit- 
izens of Claremont and other friends of the Col- 
lege, including the traveling public, that they 
deserve conspicuous mention. For a year or two 
many thought the College had gone ahead too fast 
in building the commons and inn ; but the solution 
of certain difficulties has come about since, and 
the advantages prove to be great. 

So, too, the astronomical department was em- 
boldened by these other movements to push ahead 
and build and equip its Observatory. Claremont 
as well felt the spirit of enterprise, purchased am- 
ple grounds and erected elegant high school 
buildings. - ■ 

While; these movements were in the air,. the. old:, 
question of changing the name of the College 

[354] 



PEESIDENT GATES 

came up and was very thoroughly discussed, 
eliciting not a little feeling. The discussion was 
entered into by trustees, faculty, students, alumni 
and other interested parties. The *^ Student 
Life** during much of the year was full of the 
subject in its various aspects. 

Still further, the question of uniting with the 
Baptist and Christian churches arose, in an inci- 
dental way, and Pomona made overtures to each 
of them. The Baptists, by a large committee of 
their strong men, met with the college committee 
once or twice, examined the matter fully, were 
inclined to take favorable action, and so reported 
to their Annual Convention. But the Convention 
voted down the proposition, and they have since 
opened another denominational college in South- 
ern California. On the other hand, the Christian 
churches in convention took favorable action, to 
be tested five years. Their men were appointed 
on the Board of Trustees and there was some 
measure of cooperation. At their Annual Con- 
vention in 1912, however, there was a disposition, 
and a vote (not unanimous), to organize a college 
of their own. What the final outcome may be is 
at this date uncertain. 

Two or three years after the election of mem- 
bers of the Christian churches to the Board of 
Trustees, when Occidental College was looking 
for a new home, Pomona made overtures to some 
of its officers, after interviews with them, to take 

[ 255 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

the question of union under consideration. This 
was done by their Board of Trustees, and after 
conferring with Pomona ^s trustees and visiting 
the plant at Claremont they voted, before the ques- 
tion of terms came up, not to consider the matter 
further. The Board of Trustees of Pomona now 
feel that in a wholly unselfish spirit they have 
shown fully their readiness to waive sectarianism, 
while adhering unflinchingly to the fundamentals 
of Christianity ; thus leaving to others the respon- 
sibility — if responsibility there be — for lack of 
unity in the work of Christian education in South- 
ern California. 

The activity of the College was by no means 
limited during these years to external matters; 
it was manifest in internal affairs. From time to 
time, in harmony with other first-class institu- 
tions, Pomona had raised her standards so that 
the graduates continued to stand on an equality 
in graduate work with those of the best institu- 
tions. In the meantime the curriculum was wid- 
ening as rapidly as was possible in view of the 
high standards. These facts were appreciated, 
and the student body grew more and more rap- 
idly. It became absolutely necessary, finally, in 
the face of all the obstacles, to increase the en- 
dowment; and at the same time there was an 
imperious demand for a men's dormitory. After 
very careful consideration it was decided to ap- 
peal for help to Mr. Carnegie and to the General 

[ 256 ] 



PRESIDENT GATES 

Education Board. President Gates and tlie sec- 
retary, at the request of the Board of Trustees, 
went to New York to urge the suit. The Educa- 
tion Board, through the report of its secretary, 
who had never visited this region, rejected the 
appeal on the plea that there were too many col- 
leges in Southern California. Mr. Carnegie, on 
the other hand, proposed to give Pomona fifty 
thousand dollars provided she would raise two 
hundred thousand dollars additional. The Board 
of Trustees, having accepted the proposition, en- 
tered upon this campaign with zest. 

Arrangements were hastily made in the early 
summer, and a men's dormitory was built in a 
surprisingly short time. 

Three buildings were now completed and ready 
for use — the Library, the Dormitory and the Ob- 
servatory. The dedication of these three build- 
ings on the same day, in the fall of 1908, gave 
great satisfaction to President Gates, as it did to 
all the friends of Pomona. 

Some months before the dedication, after about 
two-thirds of the Carnegie fund had been pledged, 
the secretary resigned from the Campaign Com- 
mittee on account of illness. President Gates 
was asked by the Board of Trustees to take 
charge of the campaign. For a little while he 
wrestled with the problem, and then communi- 
cated to the Board of Trustees the following let- 
ter of resignation. 

[257] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

* ^ To my fellow members of the Board of Trus- 
tees of Pomona College: 

*^ Colleagues: 

**For reasons that seem adequate to me and 
which I hope will seem equally so to you, I ask 
you to accept my resignation of the office of Pres- 
ident of Pomona College and of this Board. 

^^When, seven years ago, I accepted your invi- 
tation to this work, you who were then members 
will recall that I said to you very frankly that if 
you were looking for one whose chief work should 
be the raising of money, you were making a mis- 
take; for while several hundred thousand dollars 
came to Grinnell during the thirteen years I was 
there, I have had experience enough to know that 
I have no special fitness for that work. So that 
if ever the time should come when that work 
should definitely fall to me, as a chief duty, it 
would be wise for you to invite some other man. 
That time seems to have come. 

** There are few colleges, if any, more prosper- 
ous or in a more satisfactory condition than ours, 
— except in one respect and that a vital one : we 
have not money enough to carry on our work. 

**One year ago we set out on a campaign to 
raise $250,000. Later Rev. C. B. Sumner was 
appointed chairman of the committee to pros- 
ecute the work. In less than three months he 
completely broke down nervously. That nearly 
fatal illness was doubtless occasioned, if not 

[ 258 ] 



PEESIDENT GATES 

caused, by the strain of that work. He is now 
seeking recovery by a complete rest in the Ha- 
waiian Islands. 

^*This left the responsibility on me; indeed, it 
was definitely placed there by the action of the 
Board. With such loyalty as I can command, I 
have been endeavoring to meet this responsibil- 
ity. Many lines of work are already laid out 
which promise some degree of success, — in time. 
But the tenseness of our situation is impatient of 
time. 

**We have reached today a stage in which the 
chief work required of me, not only for the next 
few months but for an indeterminate time to 
come, must needs be the grappling with this finan- 
cial situation. The raising of the $250,000 will 
be but the prelude to a fresh effort for further 
needed expansion so that even should the present 
campaign be crowned with success, I should find 
myself at the beginning of new and still heavy re- 
sponsibilities, outside the field of my chosen 
work. Under the conditions I find myself com- 
pelled to abide by my consistent declaration in the 
matter, and request that you relieve me of an im- 
possible task, finding for it one who may under- 
take it with better chances of success. 

**You will naturally inquire why I should take 
such action at this time, rather than at the con- 
clusion of a college year, or at the expiration of 
some fixed term of notice. It is because para- 

[ 259 3 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

mount considerations of health leave no room for 
any other course. 

^ ^ Eather than lay down my office at this serious 
emergency, and thus seem in cowardly fashion to 
run away from a hard task, something I have 
never done, I have tried to hold myself to do this 
work. I have, however, made the discovery that 
my physical strength is unequal to it. To con- 
tinue this attempt would mean, I feel sure, to run 
open-eyed into extreme danger of nervous 
wreck. There is no virtue in deliberate suicide. 
Such a course is the pride of obstinacy and not 
the wisdom of courage. 

^^I have carried on for seven years without a 
break the somewhat exacting burdens of the 
president of the College. For nearly twenty 
years I have had no period of rest long enough to 
recruit fully from the wear and tear of continu- 
ous activity. Two years ago, severe symptoms 
of brain-fag and nervous exhaustion asserted 
themselves, threatening to demand then and there 
the period of relief and relaxation that alone 
could conserve for me the remaining years of ef- 
fective service for which I may reasonably hope. 
The danger at that time was averted. But within 
the last fortnight signs have again appeared that 
the long-needed rest can no longer be deferred 
without a risk that no man who takes thought for 
his family and his future may conscientiously in- 
cur* • It.;is for thi^ reason that no choice is left 

[260] 




President George Augustus Gates 



PRESIDENT GATES 

me but to ask from your Board the immediate re- 
lief that will come from your permitting my with- 
drawal at this time. 

^'I cannot lay down this office without express- 
ing to my colleagues on the Board of Trustees my 
appreciation of the loyal service you have freely 
given to Pomona College. 

^ ' Neither has our common work for the college 
during these seven years been fruitless. The stu- 
dent register has gone from 245 to well over 500, 
doubled ; the students of collegiate rank from 100 
to 315, trebled; the graduating class from 11 to 
48, quadrupled ; teachers from 21 to 38 ; four im- 
portant buildings have been added; 60 acres 
have been added to the 12 acres of campus we had 
in 1901; endowment has increased from $117,000 
to $281,000; total assets from $238,000 to nearly 
three-quarters of a million. Such a growth in so 
short a time is firm ground for lasting satisfac- 
tion. However modest the part I may have had 
in the work, more than $350,000 has been given to 
the college in this time. 

** Concerning the maintenance and even incre- 
ment during this same time, of the college's high 
academic standing, general good name at home 
and abroad, fine and loyal spirit in student body 
and faculty, good discipline and freedom from 
any internal trouble, — it is more fitting that 
others should testify. 

**My personal relations with this Board have 

[261] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

always been, without shadow of exception, most 
pleasant. I feel it an honor to have been associ- 
ated so long with you in this work. 

^^In relinquishing this special responsibility, I 
abate in no measure my confidence in the future 
of the college, nor my loyalty to it in any way I 
can serve it. 

*^With assurance of great respect, 

Geokge a. Gates.'' 

In the light of all the facts as they appeared 
to them, the Board of Trustees accepted his 
resignation about the middle of the college year, 
to take effect after Commencement, and gave him 
leave of absence until that time. 

The following resolutions were passed by the 
Board of Trustees of the College: 

*^In accepting the resignation of Dr. Gates as 
president of Pomona College, at his own earnest 
request, and for reasons whose cogency seems to 
admit of no discussion, this Board of Trustees 
desires to give expression to something of the re- 
gret with which it takes this action, and of its 
appreciation for the retiring president of the 
Board. 

**The seven years of Dr. Gates' relation with 
this Board, through all the perplexing problems 
that have arisen, have been years of unbroken 
harmony and of a mutual respect and regard that 
have continued without a flaw until today. We 
desire not only to put this on record, but also to 

[262] 



PEESIDENT GATES 

express our appreciation of the high sense of 
honor and fidelity that he has brought to all his 
work, of his broad sympathies with men, and of 
the simplicity and winsomeness of his Christian 
character. 

*^We recognize also that under his leadership 
the college has made remarkable growth, more 
than doubling its membership and material 
equipment. But most of all would we give grate- 
ful expression to our sense of the service that he 
has rendered to the College and to the broader in- 
terests of Christian education, in his personal in- 
fluence upon the young men and women of the 
institution. The moral earnestness and high ideal- 
ism of the student body at Pomona is so marked 
as to impress the most casual observer. The at- 
mosphere is not only unmistakably Christian, but 
charged with a spirit of social service and unself- 
ish living. Many influences have contributed to 
maintain and strengthen this condition through 
the years, but chief among them we gratefully 
recognize the personal character of the retiring 
president. This inspiration of many student 
lives, even more than added buildings and cam- 
pus, will remain as his enduring contribution to 
the life of Pomona College. 
** Signed by 

'^The Board of Trustees.*' 

The college faculty also passed resolutions, as 
follows : 

[ 263 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

^ ^ In view of the resignation of President George 
A. Gates, we the Faculty of Pomona College 
heartily unite in the following resolutions. 

^^I. The feeling of personal loss so difficult to 
express yet so keenly felt at this time bears the 
surest tribute to our cordial relations with Dr. 
Gates, the man, the friend and the president. 
The past seven years have been marked by such 
harmony as could have been hoped for with 
few and can be looked back upon with true 
gratitude. 

^^IL The loss to the college, due to Dr. Gates' 
personality, his relations with students and fac- 
ulty, his reputation as one of the leading men in 
Southern California, and his national repute as 
an educator, is one which will not soon be made 
good. 

**IIL Too much can hardly be said in commen- 
dation of his own ideals regarding administrative 
relations to faculty and students and of his con- 
stant desire to cooperate in the fuller develop- 
ment of the ideals which he found here. 

^^IV. As a man he has ever commanded our 
highest esteem through his warm-hearted rela- 
tions with us and his successful effort through life 
and influence to make general among us a clearer 
recognition of the individual's obligations to 
society. 

^*V. We feel keen sympathy with Dr. Gates in 
his present state of health which is responsible 

[264] 



PEESIDENT GATES 

for his resignation at this time, and express the 
sincerest hope that the contemplated rest and 
change may result in such recovery as will give 
to him many added years of active helpful work 
for the objects so dear to his heart: social regen- 
eration, educational advancement and the spread 
of Christ's kingdom. 

*^VI. These resolutions shall be spread upon 
the minutes of the faculty and a copy duly signed 
by the members of the faculty shall be presented 
to him.'' 

President Gates sailed immediately for Aus- 
tralia and New Zealand. The ocean voyage 
greatly benefited him, as was apparent in his final 
baccalaureate sermon and in an address before 
the Civics Club of Los Angeles. Nevertheless 
the question could not but arise, as to whether if 
he should resume the burdens of the College, the 
relief would prove more than temporary. 

President Gates' administration, judged by its 
fruits, was manifestly a successful one, as seen in 
the data given in his letter of resignation. Some 
said the College grew with Southern California. 
In fact it was said President Gates was not an 
aggressive administrator; he never initiated, 
never led in financial measures, and very rarely 
originated either external or internal improve- 
ments. If this be true, and there is a measure 
of truth in it, there must have been strong forces 
in the administration to initiate and to lead, and 

[265] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

he must have been quick to see, cooperate and in 
some sort guide them to effective ends. This is 
leadership of high quality. No man can be fore- 
most in everything. The wise administrator 
appoints each man to the work he can best accom- 
plish. Keeping the forces working together in 
harmony and utilizing the best in every one for 
the supreme ends — that is success. In this Presi- 
dent Gates was strong. He was the leader needed 
at the time. 

As a man and as president he was beloved by 
the students and the faculty. Personally nearly 
every one liked him. His reputation and stand- 
ing with the country at large did much to bring 
the College into wide and favorable repute. Few 
men in Southern California have more warm 
friends than President Gates, and those friends, 
too, are among Pomona's best friends. Indeed 
he was a rare man in his friendships. The sin- 
cerity and depth of the friendship between him 
and his former students was of the Dr. Arnold 
type. His relations with the strong friends of 
earlier years, maintained through long intervals 
of separation, were intimate and beautiful. Then 
too, his sense of obligation to his co-workers, and 
even to those in competition with him, was ut- 
terly free from the taint of self-interest. And 
this was only one phase of his greatness in char- 
acter. In simple-hearted, straightforward integ- 
rity, in clear, pure, noble thought and feeling, in 

[266] 



PEESIDENT GATES 

genuine, broad, human sympattiy, he had few 
superiors. 

President Gates was an inspirational speaker. 
He seldom failed to hold his audience perfectly, 
and often was exceedingly impressive. On very 
rare occasions, whether from lack of preparation, 
immediate or more remote, or from physical 
causes, inspiration failed him, and the impression 
was far less favorable. To those who heard him 
only at his best he was a really great speaker. 
But, as always happens in such cases, in the esti- 
mation of a few who had been so unfortunate as 
to hear him at his worst, no number of effective 
addresses could atone for one which lacked the 
wonted illumination. While from the first there 
was occasionally a marked difference in the effec- 
tiveness of his extemporaneous addresses. Pres- 
ident Gates for a number of years rarely failed to 
interest and inspire his audiences. Often he was 
very impressive — masterly. From time to time 
during the last two or three years, however, the 
difference was so great and under such circum- 
stances as to indicate a physical cause. *^The 
brain-fag and nervous exhaustion ^^ to which he 
refers in his letter of resignation was no doubt 
this cause. It certainly hurt his reputation and 
weakened his influence in these years. 

Almost immediately after leaving Pomona, 
President Gates was elected to the presidency of 
Fisk University for colored people, at Nashville, 

[267] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Tennessee, and entered upon that philanthropic 
work with great satisfaction and enthusiasm. 
His injury in a railroad accident in 1911, and his 
subsequent resignation and death, caused great 
sadness to a host of friends. 



[ 268 ] 



CHAPTER XVIII 

DORMITOEIES 

For several years the wisdom of supplying dor- 
mitories for students at Pomona, as in the case 
of many another like institution, was a mooted 
question. Some of those interested in the mat- 
ter had very delightful associations with dormi- 
tory life; others were prejudiced against it. It 
was a matter of history that dormitories for men, 
in certain places and at certain periods, had been 
prolific of trouble. Some, therefore, would have 
discarded them altogether. *^ Don't get too many 
boys together,'' it was urged; *^the result is sure 
to be bad." 

A more careful and thorough study of the 
question, however, from the modern standpoint, 
leads one to the conclusion that while there are 
dangers there are also compensatory advantages, 
and many of the dangers may be guarded against, 
leaving on the whole a preponderance in favor of 
the dormitory system. By a careful comparison 
in the same institution it is found that students 
housed in dormitories on the campus do better 
work in their studies, are less exposed to tempta- 
tions and get more of the best in college life than 
those housed off the campus^ wliether grouped in. 

[269] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

rooming houses or in private homes. This result 
holds good even in the case of students living in 
their own homes. So strong and widespread has 
this conviction become among educators that 
many institutions which heretofore have been 
without dormitories, and some which have had in- 
sufficient accommodations, are seeking urgently 
to provide quarters on the campus for all the stu- 
dents. A Yale man whose father, during the 
son's college course, was mayor of the city of 
New Haven, lived at home throughout his college 
years, to his lifelong regret. He subsequently 
built an elegant dormitory on the Yale campus in 
honor of his father. While his own son was in 
college, he preferred that he live in a dormitory 
rather than forego the advantages of which he 
felt that he himself had been deprived. 

President Hadley said, about the time of his 
election to the presidency of Yale; that a student 
gains as much from the college life as from his 
books. Many an alumnus has endorsed that 
judgment. If this is true, certainly the student 
should be given facilities for getting the most and 
the best out of college life. This is possible only 
by living during the student days in the college 
atmosphere. 

Another reason for the dormitory life is its 
value in teaching self-reliance. Boys and girls 
must some time learn to stand and act for them- 
selves, and to bear resf)onsibilities. This re- 

[2701 



DORMITOEIES 

quires experience, which can be acquired only by 
practice. What better time and place for the 
first lessons outside the home than between eight- 
een and twenty-two years of age in a carefully 
ordered dormitory life? This is the age when 
the instincts demand self-assertion, and repres- 
sion is likely to do permanent harm. 

Pomona at first had but one building for all 
phases of college work and life, and for every one 
connected with the institution. There were no 
other homes or buildings in the vicinity that were 
available for students or teachers. Claremont 
was built from the beginning about the College. 
When after two years the men — who were the 
most numerous — were crowded out of the only 
college hall, a few homes having been built where 
some could be cared for, and others having built 
humble homes for themselves, it was thought by 
not a few to be an advantage to have them scat- 
tered in separate abodes. For a year or more 
after the occupancy of the men's dormitory, 
doubt was expressed occasionally of its utility. 
But now it would be rare to find one who, on be- 
half of the students, would not hail with gladness 
the announcement of room for every student on 
the campus. 

A Pomona city paper, at the time when Clare- 
mont Hotel was transferred to the College and 
became Claremont Hall, said of it, in terms not to 

[271] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

be taken too seriously: *^The building cost over 
twenty-two thousand dollars, and is handsomely 
and strongly built and elegantly finished on the 
interior. The main apartments on the first floor 
are unusually handsome, and could not be better 
adapted for class and assembly rooms and for the 
library. The sleeping and study rooms on the 
second and third floors are by all means the best 
in any school or college in the state. Some of the 
rooms could scarcely be more delightfully and at- 
tractively finished for students' purposes. They 
were designed for the use of wealthy eastern tour- 
ists in Southern California, and money and labor 
were not spared in making them delightful. The 
halls of the building are wide and lofty. The 
floors and wainscoting are of hard and polished 
wood, and the windows throughout the large 
structure are of French plate glass, surmounted 
by pretty cathedral or stained glass. A wide 
piazza runs about the front of the building and 
adds to the architectural attractiveness of the 
edifice, as well as to the comfort of the dwellers 
within the building.'^ 

The history of this hall is diverse and unique. 
Although built for a hotel, it was never used be- 
fore it came into the hands of the College. It 
was a perfectly new, unfurnished building. First 
of all it must be furnished; the boarding depart- 
ment, thirty-two study and sleeping rooms, reci- 
tation rooms, chapel, reception room, together 

[272] 



DORMITORIES 

with a library, the books for wliicli were still to 
be obtained, were all to be provided for here. 
The College had no money, and no established 
credit. The trustees were unwilling to mortgage 
its property. All that could be collected of the 
subscriptions with which the College started had 
gone into the foundations and materials for the 
building of Central Hall. It was a time when it 
was extremely difficult to get money. 

Furniture must be obtained without money in 
order that the hall might be made ready for oc- 
cupancy at the beginning of the second term of 
college work. Friends went from house to house, 
and got a bedstead here and a bureau there, 
chairs or table or bedding elsewhere. Then the 
appeal was made far and wide to churches and 
young people's societies to furnish rooms, with 
the privilege of naming them. Delegations came 
to see the hall and to take measurements. 
Quickly, as by magic, the empty building became 
habitable, and some of the rooms attractive, while 
all, as they were needed, were made neat and 
comfortable. Rooms were furnished by churches 
or individuals as far away as the eastern sea- 
board. For many years these various rooms re- 
tained the names of those who furnished them, 
and many pleasant letters were interchanged and 
not a few interested visitors were entertained 
through acquaintances thus formed. 

At first not only students and teachers, but par- 

[273] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ents, and sometimes tourists, boarded and roomed 
at the College. A man who had come to Clare- 
mont for his health, and with his family had been 
received into the college household, grew too ill 
to be moved, and died in the hall. For seventeen 
years table boarders were provided for, at tables 
with the students, or, later, at separate tables, 
and finally in a room by themselves. The Col- 
lege boarding department was a convenience to 
the families living in Claremont, to friends of the 
College, and to travelers. Here town and gown 
came in touch and were in sympathy. Of this re- 
lation Claremont Inn was a natural, almost inev- 
itable, result. 

Many and varied are the experiences connected 
with this hall. Nearly every room has sharply 
defined associations. Here on the second floor at 
the north end the kerosene lamp was broken, and 
with quick wit a young woman secured the fire 
extinguisher, while with swift gallantry the 
young man who saw the flame from the campus 
quenched the rapidly devouring blaze. In more 
than one room, while the little wood stoves were 
retained, a less spectacular, if hardly less danger- 
ous blaze was smothered. Many remember the 
outcry and the odor of burning bedding which 
aroused the house one night, after the introduc- 
tion of electricity, the explanation being that one 
of the students had gone to sleep with a lighted 
bulb at her feet. Nor have all forgotten the per- 

[274] 



DORMITORIES 

ils attending the careless handling of curling 
irons. 

One of the early experiences in the chemical 
department of this hall was the spilling of phos- 
phorus, which ran into the wide cracks and long 
withstood every attempt to extinguish a creep- 
ing blaze. Some of the transoms over the doors 
are said to invoke memories of struggling and 
wriggling humanity in the effort to circumvent 
locks and keys. There are untraced rumors 
among the alumni that these memories are not 
confined to the young men. 

The large reception room at the south end of 
the lower floor, together with the adjoining room 
connected with it by double doors, for five years 
used as a chapel, have many associations both 
grave and gay. Inspiring addresses, heart- 
searching talks, * ^ solemncholies, " pleasant song 
services, were interspersed with plenty of fun and 
frolic. The parlor, and the porch, the place of in- 
troduction, of so many pleasant interviews, it may 
be of romance ; the little alcove where the library 
was at first kept, where some have acquired their 
taste for literature — could these walls but speak, 
how many entertaining stories they might tell! 

It may not be within the province of the histo- 
rian to know all the secrets of the tower. Surely, 
however, every one once a student, and every vis- 
itor, has some recollection of the view from its 
height. Many will recall the widespread terror 

[275] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of the niglit when the north wind rocked the 
tower, and the one sleeping beneath it was awak- 
ened by floods of water falling on her bed, fol- 
lowed quickly by yards of plaster loosened from 
the ceiling. 

Perhaps no room is so rich in associations, or 
at least in memories of the earlier years, as the 
dining-room. Sumner Hall dining-room, aside 
from the intimate relations of the daily meals, 
has many other associations. It was the only 
assembly hall for ^ye years. For fifteen months 
it was the church home. Here were the prize de- 
bates, lectures, concerts, anniversary exercises. 
Many remember the first prize debate, won by a 
young woman and thus justifying coeducation, 
so new to most of those connected with the Col- 
lege. Equally well is remembered that fine 
scholarly address of Dr. Currier at the first anni- 
versary exercises. Also a later one, strong and 
effective, by Dr. Stephen Norton. 

Informal as the room might seem for an assem- 
bly, it was generally quite dignified when fitted 
up and decorated for the occasion. Sometimes, 
however, the pressure of other duties prevented 
the removal of all the appurtenances of the board- 
ing department; the pop of the yeast cork in the 
midst of the sermon was once too much for the 
sobriety of the audience, and somewhat jostled 
the eloquence of the preacher. The mice at 
times, and occasionally the cat from the kitcheii, 

1276] 



DOEMITORIES 

attracted undue attention. But these were sim- 
ply the domestic incidents that give a flavor to the 
memories; they do not affect the everlasting 
realities. They, however, helped at the time to 
bring together teacher and taught, matron and 
maid, housekeeper and cook, citizen and student. 
There were no separate interests in those days, no 
class distinctions. The experience was a molding 
power at that stage of the college life. 

When the boys were no longer allowed to room 
in the hall, and a separate entrance was made for 
them, by which to enter the dining-room, a 
marked change was observed. But this bore no 
comparison to the change that came with the 
opening of Holmes Hall, when church, chapel, 
recitation room, library, reading-room, society, 
office, — everything of the sort was removed from 
Sumner Hall. Childhood had now passed, and 
Pomona College was put on maturer ways. The 
boarding-school era had given place to the Col- 
lege. The important fact was felt by every one, 
and written large on every occasion. One or two 
partitions and a little paint and paper, and lo! 
only a women's dormitory with boarding-house 
attachment. 

It was about this time that the name **Clare- 
mont Hall, ' ' adopted spontaneously when the Col- 
lege moved into the abandoned hotel, was changed 
by the Board of Trustees, at the request of one 
of the donors, to ^ ' Mary L. Sumner Hall, ' ' in rec- 

[277] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ognition of Mrs. C. B. Sumner's interest in and 
devotion to the College. 

It was passing strange how quickly the young 
women found a use for every room, and no hint 
was left of the pedagogues ' occupancy. For four- 
teen years matters moved along in the same 
grooves, without visible sign of future change. 
But the leaven of progress was working all the 
time in some minds. Electricity had been intro- 
duced for lighting purposes, hot water supplied 
for the bathrooms, and a more satisfactory sys- 
tem of heating the rooms inaugurated by means 
of the central heating plant. Through the years, 
discussion after discussion, first of one plan of 
betterment, then of another, took place among in- 
terested parties, until at length a workable plan 
was devised, and Claremont Inn was inviting the 
boarding department to remove from Sumner 
Hall and leave it exclusively a dormitory. 

The insistent demand for rooms had much to 
do with the character of the change made in the 
hall when the boarding department took its de- 
parture. The cutting ofi and wrecking of the old 
kitchen with its apurtenances was urged strongly. 
But out of the multiplicity of suggestions came 
one which finally worked out in the plan adopted. 
The possibilities in the third story had been con- 
sidered often in past days, but too many stairs 
and too much danger from fire always had proved 
final objections. At length the plan of making 

[278] 



DOEMITORIES 

those third-story rooms the most attractive in the 
hall was thought to answer the objection to the 
stairs, and the back stairs, with the several fire 
escapes, satisfied the further opposition. The ul- 
timate result elicited countless congratulations. 
Before the added rooms, just about equal in num- 
ber to the original dormitory rooms, could be fur- 
nished, every one of them had been engaged, and 
from that day to this a waiting list has rarely 
failed of those eager to secure dormitory rooms. 
The beautiful recreation room, entirely removed 
from the reception room, with its broad fireplace, 
its plentiful light and air, is well-nigh a model of 
its kind and a happy transformation of the old 
kitchen addition. 

Not until the fall of 1908 did the young men 
of Pomona have dormitory accommodations, ex- 
cept in a part of Claremont Hall during the first 
two years that the College occupied it. Dr. D. K. 
Pearsons spent the winter of 1907-08 and a part 
of 1908-09 in Claremont, and studied the College 
with an interest and understanding gained by 
years of experience in such study. He was im- 
pressed deeply with the immediate need of a 
men's dormitory. Already he had pledged 
twenty-five thousand dollars toward the Carnegie 
fund on condition that the whole fund should be 
raised. Anxious to have the dormitory ready for 
the next year, he proposed that a hall should be 

[279] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

built at once, using the amount lie had pledged, 
without waiting till the whole fund was raised. 
Mr. Blanchard seconded the movement and 
turned in his pledge, and Messrs. Marston and 
Chapman applied a part of their pledges. Thus 
the cost was practically covered. 

Messrs. Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey, the col- 
lege architects, prepared the plans, the Eich- 
ards-Neustadt Construction Company took the 
contract, and in about ninety days a really fine, 
thoroughly fireproof, reinforced concrete dormi- 
tory, with red-clay tiled roof, was ready for dedi- 
cation and use. At Dr. Pearsons' suggestion it 
was named **A. K. Smiley Hall.'' 

The building is a model in its plain, solid, clas- 
sic architecture, and in its convenience and its 
adaptation to its uses. One feature of the hall 
is a well-lighted recreation and gathering room, 
with a broad fireplace and other comforts. Dr. 
Pearsons before he went East protested against 
this room as needless. When he returned in the 
fall, saw the room with its piano and proper fur- 
nishings, provided by the boys, and saw how they 
used it, he changed his mind with characteristic 
promptness, and declared it the best part of the 
hall. 

The main building is divided into three sec- 
tions, with partitions from top to bottom. As a 
rule the rooms are in suites, a study room with 
two bedrooms. There are some single rooms. 

I 280 ] 



DORMITORIES 

The outside walls are built of hollow tiles, and no 
dampness or discoloration is possible. The north 
section was used for two years by the music de- 
partment, but the demand for rooms was so great 
that temporary provision was made elsewhere for 
the music, and the hall was quickly filled. There 
has been since a constant waiting list of students, 
eager to secure any room that might be vacated. 
The hall has become the center of college life for 
the young men. The adjustments are not all sat- 
isfactory, but it is a long step in advance and 
gives clear and definite suggestions of the ideal 
home for college men. 



I 281 ] 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE LIBRARY AND THE MUSEUM 
The practical use of library and museum has 
increased wonderfully within fifty years. During 
the last twenty-five years the change has been 
marked. Instead of being accessories, chiefly for 
the use of teachers and graduate students, and 
occasionally an exceptional undergraduate, they 
have come to be a part of the equipment for the 
daily work of nearly all students. The distinction 
should be made that whereas the museum has be- 
come indispensable to a limited number of de- 
partments, the library has become indispensable 
to every department. One of the first questions 
a general educator asks of an institution is with 
regard to the size and character of its library. 
The man of science inquires equally of its 
museum. 

Fifty years ago accommodations for reading 
and writing were wanting entirely, or at least 
were restricted, in nearly every public or semi- 
private library. Now city and town and institu- 
tional library must have ample provision for 
both. It is interesting to note how many avail 
themselves of these provisions during library 
hours. The use of the museum is perhaps not so 
conspicuous as the use of the library. One reason 

[282] 



LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 

for this is that public museums are less numerous. 
But if one enters any scientific department in an 
educational institution he will see abundant proof 
of the utility of the museum. While Pomona's 
library and museum have been very intimately 
connected historically, nevertheless each one is 
coming rapidly to have a distinct and important 
place of its own. 

Rev. Edwin Sidney Williams claims to have 
given the first book to the library, before the Col- 
lege was open to students. It was not the last 
book received from this old friend, nor has he con- 
fined himself to single volumes. On the contrary, 
he has contributed works of such magnitude, and 
such utility on this coast, as Hubert Howe Ban- 
croft's Histories. 

Many choice books came to the library in the 
early days from a great number of friends. It 
was a surprise to see how quickly the alcove off 
the hall in the first college home assumed the ap- 
pearance and something of the reality of a li- 
brary. Miss Spalding gathered two hundred 
books from Carleton friends to bring with her to 
Pomona. Naturally it fell to her lot to act as 
librarian. Her enthusiasm was contagious. The 
*^ Pomona Student'' became insistent, every num- 
ber chronicling some special need or some new 
gift, or both. Self-imposed fines among students 
and faculty were productive. 

[283] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Faculty and student body individually and col- 
lectively made their requests for books. The first 
appeal of the librarian is a specimen: *'Dear 
Friend: We are hoping to add to our library as 
soon as possible a large number of valuable books, 
and for the purpose of letting our friends know 
exactly what we need, we invite their attention to 
the list printed within. If you can spare any of 
these books from your library, please send them, 
and we will gladly pay the freight. If you are 
willing to pay for one or more volumes, please 
send us the price named, and we will place in the 
library the books selected, indicating the donor 
who presented them.'^ 

As the result of such appeals, private libraries 
came from the East and from the West, together 
with smaller personal gifts of books and money 
for the purchase of books. Collections of individ- 
uals, societies connected with churches and socie- 
ties without church connections, now from 
Los Angeles, Pomona, Eiverside or San Diego, 
now from towns in the Middle West, and again 
from New England, all helped to swell the li- 
brary. Such lovers of books as Eev. E. E. P. Ab- 
bot, who is said to have the finest private library 
in Southern California ; Dr. Frary ; Eev. Edward 
Hildreth ; Mr. S. H. Herrick ; members of the fac- 
ulty and of the Board of Trustees, made large 
contributions. Professor Learned of Doshisha 
College, Kyoto, Japan, established a missionary 

[ 284 ] 



LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 

library. In 1891 the Congregational Club of 
Southern California donated one hundred vol- 
umes. Thus a change became necessary sooner 
than any one had expected, and the library was 
moved into larger quarters. A Library Union 
was formed subsequently, and more organized 
work was done in filling the book-shelves. 

In the building of Holmes Hall, one room was 
encased in brick to give to the library protection 
from fire. This room afforded fair conveniences 
for library purposes during several years, and a 
well-stocked reading-room in conjunction was an 
added advantage. The reading-room and library 
fees were helpful. The Claremont Book Club 
soon began to give from twenty to thirty volumes 
a year, which it has continued to do to the present 
time. 

In a communication to the ^^ Student Life'^ in 
1895, Professor Spalding writes: ^^We certainly 
do feel greatly hampered at times by our narrow 
bounds. Yet certain existing conditions enable us 
to gain from our limited collection quite the aver- 
age intelligence upon most subjects that present 
themselves for our study. We have a small pro- 
portion of waste material. Our medieval theol- 
ogy is happily much lighter than is usual in 
similar institutions. We are not flooded with cur- 
rent literature; but every department of our col- 
lege and preparatory school is represented by at 
least a few standard works. The departme^it of 

[285] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

history is reasonably full. A private scientific 
library of over a thousand volumes is open to the 
daily use of all students, and is practically a part 
of our possessions. The library is accessible.'' 
**The purchase of nearly every volume which it 
contains is dignified by a suggested record of self- 
denial and effort. In the early days boys 
scrubbed and girls cooked and mended, and all 
employed every legitimate device at their com- 
mand to increase the needy collection. In a very 
literal sense pathos and humor entered into our 
prose and poetry." 

Thirty-nine valuable volumes from Mr. W. T. 
Clapp of Pasadena, among many other contribu- 
tions, followed this communication. Appeals were 
not confined to the librarian. They went out from 
many interested ones, and were more or less fruit- 
ful. Memorial volumes came in. Public docu- 
ments also began to come in larger measure, not 
only filling the shelves but making a more work- 
able library. In 1897 Mr. C. M. Pratt began his 
annual donation of five hundred dollars for the 
purchase of books. Two years later Pearsons 
Hall of Science, a semi-fireproof building, was 
dedicated, and offered a still more convenient and 
a safer place for the library. This latter fact in- 
spired confidence in the bestowal of valuable 
books. 

The permanent home of the library came 
through the Mndness of Mr. Garnegi^* Demands. 



LIBRAEY AND MUSEUM 

grew so urgent that the College was badly handi- 
capped for lack of suitable accommodations. Ac- 
cordingly, the appeal was made where so many 
institutions had found relief. 

The site proposed for the building was a half- 
block which had been designated on the town-site 
map as a park. The site had been sold for taxes, 
and redeemed by two or three citizens, who gave 
the tax title, and the original owner gave a quit- 
claim deed for the property to the College. Both 
deeds expressly permitted the College to build a 
library upon it. By reason of the semi-public na- 
ture of the site, the college authorities asked the 
so-called town officers to join in the application to 
Mr. Carnegie for assistance. These officers had 
no legal standing. Mr. Carnegie, therefore, re- 
fused to recognize them, and dealt wholly with 
the College. 

The first proposition made was for a library 
costing twenty-five thousand dollars, with the 
stipulation that the College should raise an equal 
amount for library endowment. This sum seemed 
wholly inadequate for an institution already so 
large, growing so rapidly and demanding so much 
of its library. A further appeal, therefore, was 
made by President Gates through his friend, Al- 
bert Shaw, editor of the **Eeview of Reviews,'' 
and in response forty thousand dollars was prom- 
ised for the building, conditioned on raising forty 
thousand dollars for library endowment. 

[ 287 ] 



STOBY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

When the amount had been subscribed the 
Board of Trustees appointed Messrs. Gates, Sum- 
ner and Marston as the Building Committee, and 
empowered the Executive Committee to sign the 
contract for the building. Mr. Franklin P. Burn- 
ham of Los Angeles was secured as architect, and 
he prepared plans in general conformity with a 
sketch drawn by Professor F. P. Brackett. The 
contract was let to the man who built the court- 
house at Riverside, and who was vouched for by 
the architect. The building was to be of rein- 
forced concrete, fireproof. Mr. Burnham had 
planned the Polytechnic High School in Los An- 
geles and other important buildings, and was 
highly recommended. 

Little was known as yet of reinforced concrete. 
Soon after the contract was signed, a large struc- 
ture of this material at Long Beach collapsed 
after the third floor was laid. About the same 
time a building in Ohio fell under similar condi- 
tions. The Committee was troubled. Mr. Edwin 
Squire, an engineer who had been employed to 
have direct oversight of the construction work 
at Pomona, visited Long Beach, accompanied by 
the secretary, had an interview with the contrac- 
tor of the wrecked building, and made a personal 
inspection of the ruins. Mr. Squire read the best 
authorities and thoroughly informed himself as 
to the use of reinforced concrete, and after con- 
siderable discussion additions were made to the 

[ 288 ] 



LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 

original specifications in order to insure strength 
in the foundations, and particularly in the floors 
and stairs, the increased expense being consid- 
erable. The foundations were built slowly and 
very thoroughly. 

The corner stone was laid February 22, 1907, 
with an elaborate program. Under the direction 
of Professor Colcord an academic procession was 
formed at the chapel and marched to the library 
site, taking position on the east and north sides 
of the foundations. President Gates first intro- 
duced Rev. M. G. Hart of the Christian Church of 
Pomona, who emphasized the value of much read- 
ing. He thought it desirable to prolong the 
course of study a year, if need be in individual 
cases, in order to give time for work in the li- 
brary. Casey, Chalmers and Wilberforce were 
instanced as men who were inspired by books to 
great achievements. 

Rev. Charles Pease of the First Congregational 
Church, Long Beach, next spoke. He represented 
the library as the stepping-stone from our lower 
to our higher selves. The library, he said, stands 
for * Vision, courage and patience, '^ the interpre- 
tation of PauPs **faith, hope, love'' which makes 
knowledge a real and lasting power. ** Books 
open wide the heart and the mind, and make them 
clean channels for the entrance of wisdom that 
comes from the heart of God. ' ' 

Professor Bissell read a list of the memorials 

[289] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

deposited in the stone. This included the articles 
taken from the corner-stone of the abandoned 
** Central Hall/* together with memorials of the 
day — namely, copies of the Los Angeles ^* Times'' 
and the Pomona *^ Times'' and ^* Progress" of 
September 25, 1888, and February 22, 1907, a 
copy of the ' * Student Life, ' ' the last year 's cata- 
logue, a recent Bulletin, the latest library report, 
the first circular issued by the College, a program 
of the exercises September 25, 1888, and the Ar- 
ticles of Incorporation. 

President Gates laid the stone. Bev. Warren 
F. Day, D.D., vice-president of the Board of 
Trustees, led in the dedicatory prayer. The col- 
lege hymn was sung, and the procession returned 
to the chapel. 

Here Eev. Arthur S. Phelps, pastor of the Cen- 
tral Baptist Church, Los Angeles, gave the formal 
address of the day. After an outline history of 
the development of education, he spoke of the 
modern theory of education as divided into three 
branches, — reading, writing and arithmetic, — and 
emphasized reading as standing for acquisition. 
But acquired knowledge was shown to be of little 
value unless assimilated and used. The address 
was strong in thought, rich in its reference to lit- 
erature, and bristling with bright, apt and telling 
illustrations which profoundly interested and im- 
pressed the audience. **For the inspiration of 
this address," says the ** Student Life," **we 

[ 290 ] 



LIBRAEY AND MUSEUM 

shall remember the day more than for anything 
else ; and we owe a debt of gratitude to those who 
were instrumental in bringing Mr. Phelps to us.^' 

The process of building was all along slow and 
thorough. Every detail was supervised with the 
greatest care, and ample tests were applied to 
every part before the building was accepted. 

The library, facing east, with its high portico, 
massive columns and broad steps, presents a 
stately front. The facade shows two stories, with 
deep-set mullioned windows, plain and pleasing 
cornices and moldings, a high basement and a 
tile roof. The rotunda, into which one enters, is 
open to the ceiling of the second story. Counters 
confront one on either hand, separated by the 
gate leading into the stack room, which is visible 
along the broad aisle to the west wall. At the 
right is the general reading-room, with reading 
tables and magazine cases, and at the center of 
the north wall the large fireplace, with space for 
portraits on either side. At the left, in the refer- 
ence room, one sees reference books galore, and 
the corresponding fireplace on the south wall. 

The finish in the main part is mahogany, with 
cork matting on the floors. The stairs lead from 
both sides of the entrance, meeting above the 
front door, and ending in front of the show-cases 
that extend around three sides of the gallery. On 
the north side is the directors' room, and next to 
it a room now used for classes. On the opposite 

[291 J 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

side are the librarian's rooms and the room for 
scientific periodicals. In the rear, over the stack 
room, are seminar rooms, to be used as such until 
the main and mezzanine floors are filled. In the 
basement are a large room intended for a news- 
paper room, but now used by the Young Men's 
Christian Association; the heating and ventilat- 
ing apparatus; and under the stack room the 
workshop, with space for files of papers, periodi- 
cals and pamphlets. The furnishings, lighting ar- 
rangement, and all the appointments are up to 
date in every respect. The actual cost of the li- 
brary, with furnishing, was fully ten thousand 
dollars more than the amount given by Mr. Car- 
negie. This excess was due, first, to the added 
strength already referred to, and, second, to the 
financial failure of the contractor and the conse- 
quent moral (not legal) obligation felt by the 
Board of Trustees to share the loss with the 
Claremont people to whom he was indebted. 

The pressure for expansion was such that with- 
out waiting for the dedication, as soon as the 
workmen left, every room was occupied. The 
sense of relief that came to every department 
Avith this noble building can hardly be overstated. 
The general crowding had become quite intoler- 
able. Repeatedly, at different hours in the day, 
seventy-five, and sometimes one hundred, stu- 
dents were counted at the tables in the various li- 
brary departments. The feeling of confidence in: 



LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 

the future inspired by this acquisition was inter- 
esting. It affected the whole morale of the insti- 
tution. Loyalty rose to enthusiasm. Here was 
permanence. Here was a glimpse of the high ideal 
toward which Pomona was aiming. Every stu- 
dent and every teacher not only belonged to the 
present Pomona, but to the Pomona yet to be. 

This feeling was enhanced by the character of 
Smiley Hall and the Observatory, which were go- 
ing forward at the same time. It recalled past oc- 
casions when like waves of enthusiasm had gone 
over the College, as when the change was made 
from the narrow quarters in Pomona City to the 
new home in Claremont; when Holmes Hall was 
occupied ; when Science Hall was dedicated. Loy- 
alty was not simply renewed — it was deepened, 
strengthened, made more comprehensive. The 
ideals became clearer, grander. This was very 
noticeable on the great Day of Dedication, which 
was a marked event in Pomona's history, not so 
much for any pomp or show as for a sense of real- 
ization and promise. 

Between ten and eleven thousand volumes were 
removed into the new library, nearly all reference 
and departmental books. AVhile the working 
scope of the library was remarkably large, all felt 
the restriction of the small collection. A new era, 
however, now dawned. The library endowment 
was a great help. Since the dedication an aver- 
age addition of about fifteen hundred volumes 

[293] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

each year has enabled the departments to widen 
their scope beyond the courses actually taught, so 
that some attention could be given to the broader 
fields of literature. 

The collection for the museum began about the 
same time as that for the library, and for a num- 
ber of years the two were identified closely. As 
early as 1891 a collection of one hundred and 
thirty-seven casts of archaeological objects came 
to the College from the National Museum at 
Washington. The ^'Speculum,'' referring to the 
organization of the Science Club in 1893, says: 
**The early classes in botany, zoology and geol- 
ogy, under Professor Starr, Professor Brackett 
and Miss Eoe, have already collected a number 
of minerals, birds and reptiles; a variety of In- 
dian relics have been secured by Mr. Barrows, 
and others have donated samples of iron and 
wood.'' The Science Club always has been help- 
ful in this work. Many curios were received in 
those early days. Mrs. W. Learned, wife of Pro- 
fessor Learned of Doshisha College, Kyoto, 
Japan, presented several rare Japanese articles. 

With the coming of Professor Cook the museum 
commenced to grow rapidly. His own large and 
rare collection was a museum in itself, especially 
rich in the lines of entomology, geology and ar- 
chaeology. Many others, either directly or indi- 
rectly through him, made frequent contributions. 

[294] 



LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 

Mr. James F. lllingworth, as student and as grad- 
uate, added a large number of specimens. Many 
other students, some not in Professor Cook's 
classes, were on the watch for specimens wanted 
in the museum. In 1894 Professor Cook, by solic- 
itation, secured a manikin and a number of stuffed 
skins of rare animals. As an illustration of his 
forethought, it was found when an ostrich died 
in the public park at Pomona that Professor 
Cook already had obtained from the owner a writ- 
ten promise of any ostrich which might lose its 
life. Opportunities to get valuable specimens 
were occurring from time to time, and Professor 
Cook never let such chances pass, either for lack 
of money or of personal work. When he left the 
College he left behind all his own specimens and 
books as well. 

Along botanical lines especially. Professor Carl 
F. Baker was a large contributor to the College, 
in both books and specimens. It is said that his 
collection is second to only one on the Pacific 
Coast, and that one has recently been obtained. 

Soon after the coming of President Blaisdell, 
an opportunity was presented through the kind- 
ness of Beloit College to secure a very important 
collection of California geological specimens, at a 
cost of five hundred dollars. Happily, Mr. Carl- 
ton Seaver of Pomona, hearing the offer, pur- 
chased the collection for the College. 

**The museum contains an abundance of good 

[295] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

synoptical material, including mammals, bird 
skins, mounted and unmounted, thousands of in- 
sects, and in all over two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand specimens/' 

Mrs. Colcord has been indefatigable for years 
in securing memorabilia of New England. Al- 
ready the collection is quite large, and makes the 
New England room in the Library attractive. 
Miss Hathaway and others have donated a num- 
ber of choice autograph letters written in the 
early days of America. 



[296 J 



CHAPTER XX 

THE COLLEGE COMMONS AND INN 

Some of the richer features of the college life 
are the outgrowth of conditions, rather than the 
realization of early plans. Not the least of these 
is the combined Commons and Inn. The Inn is 
an adjunct, entirely separate and maintained pri- 
marily to facilitate the purpose of the Commons ; 
but incidentally it is a convenience to the commu- 
nity and to very many others. 

The Commons is the boarding-house for the 
mass of the students, both men and women. Its 
purpose is to provide wholesome and satisfactory 
board for students, at practically cost price, and 
under such conditions and regulations as shall, 
along with economy, aid in the general cultural 
work of the College. The main plan is old and 
familiar. The particular details, here at Pomona, 
have been developed, out of an experience of 
twenty-five years, with great pains on the part of 
the trustees, faculty and students. The trustees 
have had to do chiefly with the financial side of 
the problem, more especially with providing the 
place and the general manager. The faculty, 
while retaining the control and holding unflinch- 
ingly to the main purpose, has sought steadily 

[297] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

and persistently to leave the management of the 
dining-room, just as far as possible, in the hands 
of the students. From year to year there have 
been many changes with these ends in view. Un- 
questionably, the whole system has been deter- 
mined somewhat by the early history of the Col- 
lege, when students, faculty and citizens all took 
their meals together. Sometimes the hand of au- 
thority has been felt to be quite necessary. But 
more and more the cooperation of the student 
body has been secured, until little else is now 
needed to maintain the high ends sought. 

The students have to do only with the student 
dining-room. The general method of seating is 
to have ten or twelve at each table. A committee 
of students allots the seats, placing a young man 
and a young woman in charge of each table. The 
order of seating is changed by the committee sev- 
eral times a year. Those in charge are expected 
to do all in their power to make their tables pleas- 
ant, attractive and helpful. The young men are 
ordinarily interspersed among the young women. 
Table manners, decorum, conversation — every- 
thing is sought that contributes to cultivated so- 
cial relations, without too much repression. 
Sometimes for a period the young men and young 
women are given separate tables. Sometimes a 
class is seated by itself. "While this general ar- 
rangement has its dangers, like everything else 
that is good, experience has proved it to be, all 

I 298 ] 



COLLEGE COMMONS AND INN 

in all, both pleasing and valuable. In many in- 
stances its value hardly could be overestimated, 
and it has had much to do with success and use- 
fulness in life's work. Few of the alumni would 
wish to see any material change in the plan that 
has proved so successful. 

While the Commons, all through the first dozen 
or fifteen years, had a varying popularity, per- 
haps with some reason, it has unquestionably 
grown in esteem, until it has come to be recog- 
nized generally as an attractive and conspicuous 
feature of the college life. But it has reached its 
success through a long, hard struggle, sometimes 
seemingly a life-and-death struggle. 

One purpose of the College always has been to 
see that no one of fair ability, in earnest to secure 
a college education, should be deterred by lack of 
means. The high cost of living in this new coun- 
try was found to be a serious drawback. To com- 
pete in the price of board with like institutions in 
the Middle West, from which many of the college 
constituency came, was impossible. Prices 
seemed to them exorbitant, and, with long-de- 
layed and at best small incomes, impossible. To 
keep rates down was a constant effort. In spite 
of the best endeavors, even making no charge for 
rent or perhaps for superintendence, the boarding 
department often showed a deficit, and at the 
same time occasioned some grumbling. 

Mr. T. W. Strobridge, Jr., a bright business 

[299] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

man who had been brought up in his father's 
hotel, was secured to assist the boarding depart- 
ment while keeping the college books. It was sim- 
ply impossible to keep the price of board low, and 
at the same time satisfy the students. One after 
another, in sheer desperation, built a little shack 
of the cheapest material and in the cheapest way 
possible, and roomed and boarded in it. Two 
would sometimes combine, and so lessen the ex- 
pense. When the college course was ended, the 
shack would be handed down to another. This 
way of living was unsatisfactory. It was bad for 
health, bad for manners, generally demoralizing. 
** Harmony Hall,'' or ^^ Poverty Club," as it was 
variously dubbed, was built, in order that simpler 
but wholesome and inexpensive board might be 
obtained. A good man and woman were found 
to manage it. This soon proved anything but 
popular or elevating, and it came to a natural 
death. ** Sycamore Lodge," or **The Mush 
Room," was another attempt to solve the prob- 
lem. Other clubs were formed, and had their 
brief day, with no better success. Homes were 
opened, where good women would board students 
at cost, receiving nothing except their own board 
for their hard work; but they could not compete 
with the Commons. The matter was the occasion 
of ceaseless anxiety to all concerned for fifteen 
years. 
In 1903 Miss Katharine Winans, a graduate of 

[ 300 ] 



COLLEGE COMMONS AND INN 

the University of Southern California, who had 
spent a year or more at Simmons College in Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts, to fit herself for just such 
work, came to Claremont. Her administrative 
ability and training quickly produced results. 
Fairly satisfactory board was given, and the de- 
partment paid its way. Boarders came in from 
outside, were charged a little more than the stu- 
dents, and the returns were still more satisfac- 
tory. Miss Winans soon saw the possibilities, and 
in one way and another sought to meet them. 

Finally, the utmost limits of Sumner Hall were 
reached. The new Commons, with Inn attached, 
was suggested, and the whole community was in- 
terested in the plan. The advantage already en- 
joyed, of a place where meals could be served at 
moderate cost, was too great to be lost, and the 
further need of rooms for the entertainment of 
guests was felt. A meeting of the citizens was 
called, and a proposition for a stock company 
placed before them. It appealed strongly, and, 
in connection with the College, a company was or- 
ganized, the stock subscribed, plans for the build-, 
ing drawn and accepted, and the Commons and 
Inn built on lots belonging to the college campus. 
The board of control was elected from the citizens 
outside, and from the College. Miss Winans was 
at the forefront of the whole movement, and 
largely planned and supervised every detail, in ; 
conjunction with the architects. 

[301] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

The work had to be done mostly in the summer 
vacation, while Sumner Hall was undergoing 
great changes to fit it for the housing of the larg- 
est possible number of students. The rush of 
the work was too much for Miss Winans. While 
everything was completed most satisfactorily, 
and the new year opened auspiciously with full 
numbers, the nervous strain had unfitted her for 
her task, and she was obliged to resign. The 
charm was broken. The problem seemed greater 
and more troublesome than ever. 

While in Sumner Hall the boarding department 
had not been obliged to include rent as one of its 
expenses. Now outside stockholders necessitated 
the charging of interest on the new Commons to 
that account. An experienced hotel man was em- 
ployed, but could not make ends meet. A woman 
of experience was tried, and she failed. Assess- 
ments followed, and the stockholders became dis- 
couraged. One after another gave up his stock to 
the College. 

At length Eev. E. F. Goff took up the Com- 
mons and Inn problem. He seemed at once to be 
master of the situation, and the College, com- 
pelled somehow to maintain the Commons, bought 
the small remainder of stock and took the respon- 
sibility of its management. The interest account 
was lessened by the stock given up. Twice the 
Commons dining-room has been enlarged. The 
old'time success ]aas returned. Th6 institution 

i: 302 J 



COLLEGE COMMONS AND INN 

had so gro^vn in favor that in the summer of 1912 
a large addition was made to the Inn department, 
which included a number of desirable rooms with 
baths for guests, an enlarged and improved re- 
ception room, and greater facilities for banquets. 
The Inn now proves to be an efficient help in sus- 
taining the Commons, while at the same time it 
is a convenience to the community, to the friends 
of the College and to the traveling public. Being 
near the Foothill Boulevard, it is convenient for 
a great number of automobilists, who stop there 
for luncheon or dinner. Suppers for parties, or 
banquets for larger numbers, are frequent. Fam- 
ilies and individuals from the East, not very 
strong, yet not invalids, who wish a quiet and not 
too expensive home, come here for the winter 
season. 

An article in the ^ * Student Life, ' ^ written at the 
time of the transfer from Sumner Hall to the new 
quarters, before the Preparatory School was 
dropped, gives a fair impression of this feature 
of the college life from the student's viewpoint: 
** Pomona College possesses a feature almost 
unique among colleges of her size, namely, a sin- 
gle dining-hall attended by over half of all the 
students, and a much larger proportion of the 
college students. This year the dining-room is 
established in its beautiful new quarters in the 
Inn, for whose taste and attractiveness too much 
credit cannot be given to Miss Winans. For 

[303] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

years past the college dining-liall lias been sit- 
uated in Sumner Hall, and now as we abandon it 
for the new room, a word as to the factor it has 
been in our college life does not seem out of place. 
For one thing it has meant friendships, chances 
for informal meeting and acquaintance, not only 
between the men and the women of the institution, 
but also between members of the different classes, 
such as is furnished in no other way. It has lent 
its aid to broad culture, the acquirement of the 
usages of polite society, and the sympathetic con- 
sideration of the wants of others. Finally, it has 
been a powerful factor in building up the esprit 
de corps of the school. Pomona is undoubtedly 
indebted in no small degree to Sumner Hall din- 
ing-room for the spirit of comradeship which ex- 
ists throughout the whole student body, and for 
the unity which underlies all the college life. The 
influences possessed by the old dining-room have 
been transferred to the new. The same chances 
for friendship and culture and wider fellow- 
ship are offered by it. But it is the duty of each 
and every student who attends it to determine in 
what degree he will take advantage of the oppor- 
tunities offered. Certain it is that whoever neg- 
lects them will deprive himself of a chance to 
gain some of the most important elements of a 
true education.*' 

Assuredly we do well to emphasize an institu- 
tion which produces such results as here are de- 

[304] 



COLLEGE COMMONS AND INN 

scribed, evidently out of personal experience and 
observation rather than worked-up idealism. Po- 
mona College stands by her Commons. 



[305] 



CHAPTEE XXI 

ADDITIONAL TEUSTEES 
While the first trustees have certain peculiar 
and important relations to the College, neverthe- 
less the Board of Trustees is a continuous, self- 
perpetuating body, into which new members are 
entering from time to time, each of whom, equally 
with all the others, has an open field for influence. 
A strong, positive, constructive personality can- 
not fail to be felt at whatever stage he may enter 
the Board, and in proportion to the length of time 
he is connected with it. Not only at the begin- 
ning, but at every period of its life, a college may 
be judged by its board of trustees. Personal in- 
terest, therefore, centers in every member of that 
board, past and present, elected as he must have 
been with reference to his fitness for the posi- 
tion. Space will permit only a few words of 
characterization. 

On April 12, 1892, Eev. Edward Hildreth of 
Los Angeles was elected to the Board. Mr. Hil- 
dreth was a graduate of Chicago Theological 
Seminary, and married the daughter of Mr. 
Philo Carpenter, who was one of that seminary ^s 
earliest and largest benefactors. His own long 
experience as financial agent of the Seminary, 

[306] 



ADDITIONAL TRUSTEES 

and both his own and his wife 's interest in Chris- 
tian education seemed to render him peculiarly 
fitted to help Pomona. He entered heartily into 
the Christian life of the College, and contributed 
valuable books to the Biblical department. Find- 
ing it difficult to attend the meetings on account 
of ill health, he served but one term. At his death 
he left a small bequest to the College. 

At the annual meeting of this same year Rev. 
Lucius Haskell Frary, D.D., pastor of the Pilgrim 
Church, Pomona, was made a trustee. Up to this 
time he had declined to take a place on the Board. 
As pastor of the mother church, a close friend of 
trustees, faculty and many students, in a thou- 
sand ways he had been brought into intimate and 
tender relations with the College. Dr. Frary put 
into the college work the same qualities that he 
put into his pastorate, making it one of the 
most efficient pastorates in Southern California. 
Throughout his trusteeship, on the Executive 
Committee, and for a time as president of the 
Corporation, he shared alike in the burdens and 
responsibilities of his office. *^When the real 
history of Pomona College is written," says Rev. 
E. E. P. Abbott, in the minutes of the General 
Association of Congregational Churches of 
Southern California, *^he will be counted in that 
little band that cared for and cherished it in its 
earliest and most critical years." Regardless of 
official relations, he was essentially one of the 

i 307 3 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

founders of Pomona College. He remained on 
the Board of Trustees as long as he was able to 
serve. 

Dr. Frary was born at Haverhill, New Hamp- 
shire, March 19, 1839, and died at Long Beach 
May 13, 1903. He was graduated at Dartmouth 
College in 1866, and at Andover Theological Sem- 
inary in 1869. The degree of Doctor of Divinity 
was conferred on him by Dartmouth in 1899. Af- 
ter a service of six years at Middleton, Massachu- 
setts, and eleven years at Weymouth, on account 
of the illness of a daughter, their only child, the 
family came to California. Here Dr. Frary as- 
sumed the pastorate of the Congregational 
Church at Sierra Madre, where during the year of 
his ministry the daughter died. Although called 
back to his former church at Weymouth, he de- 
clined the call, and accepted the invitation to the 
Pilgrim Church, Pomona, in 1888. 

The year following Dr. Frary 's election. Judge 
Franklin Blades, M.D., and Mr. Albert K. Smiley 
came on the Board. On account of ill health 
Judge Blades declined to serve more than one 
term of four years. His experience in the law, 
especially in the office of judge, together with a 
deep interest in the college work, rendered his 
service of peculiar value in some troublous times. 
Nor has his interest diminished since his official 
connection ceased. 

Mr. Smiley, after his first term of service, re- 

[ 308 ] 



ADDITIONAL TRUSTEES 

tired for a year or two on account of ill health, 
but was reelected and continued in office for fif- 
teen years. He retained his interest to the end of 
his life and left a small bequest to the College. 
About half the year, with Mrs. Smiley, he was at 
his hotel on Lake Mohonk. When they were at 
their home at Canon Crest, Redlands, he was a 
faithful attendant on all the calls of the College, 
night and day, and was interested in every phase 
of its work. He was a member of the Trustee 
Committee on Grounds. 

Mr. Smiley ^s successful management of a pri- 
vate school of his own, his long connection as 
trustee with Brown University, his work in the 
organization and upbuilding of Bryn Mawr, his 
special work for Vassar in her time of need, and 
his trusteeship of the New York Normal School, 
together with his good judgment, all gave him a 
rare fitness as adviser of Pomona. His opinion 
in college matters commanded attention. His 
wide and varied experience built up in him a 
breadth and strength of manhood that gave to 
his presence, his words and his deeds a power 
with young and old alike, and made his trustee- 
ship of prime importance to the College. Nor was 
his influence all summed up in his immediate rela- 
tions to it; his name gave confidence, and was 
everywhere an advocate for Pomona. His advo- 
cacy, too, was sometimes direct and efficient, both 
by letter and by personal conference. The men's 

[309] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

dormitory was named after him at Dr. Pearsons ' 
request. 

In 1894 Judge Charles E. Harwood, Mr. Frank 
L. Palmer and Eev. Warren F. Day, D.D., were 
elected trustees. Judge Harwood, with his fam- 
ily, came to Ontario a year or more after the in- 
corporation of the College. He was known well 
by his work for Drury College, Springfield, Mis- 
souri, and was made treasurer with the under- 
standing that he attend the meetings of the Board 
and participate in the discussions. At his sug- 
gestion Mr. C. M. Stone, cashier of the People's 
Bank, Pomona, was appointed his assistant. 

Mr. Harwood 's experience in college matters 
and in the business world, together with his ac- 
tive mind, made him fertile in suggestions of 
ways and means, and in many matters a leader. 
"When his brother, Eev. J. H. Harwood, declined 
reelection, he was put on the Board. Although 
the oldest member, he rarely has been absent 
from an appointment. For a dozen years he has 
been on the Executive Committee. He was de- 
scended from one of the foremost settlers of Ver- 
mont, and was graduated at Williams College. Ill 
health compelled him to turn from the practice of 
law to business. Thus by his early as well as his 
later experience he was fitted for his work at Po- 
mona. With such men as Judge Harwood, Mr. 
Marston and Mr. Blanchard, who are always as- 
sociated together, working shoulder to shoulder, 

[ 310 ] 



ADDITIONAL TRUSTEES - 

there could be no balking at great undertakings. 

Mr. Palmer, by reason of other obligations, did 
not retain long his connection with Pomona. For 
a time he was treasurer of the College, and he 
served on some important committees with effi- 
ciency. He is, and from the beginning always has 
been, accounted as one of Pomona's friends. 

Dr. Day continued in active service for fifteen 
years, overlapping W. H. Day's trusteeship three 
years. For six years he was on the Executive 
Committee. Dr. Day was to be relied on for the 
faithful performance of every duty he assumed, 
and was always a pronounced friend of Pomona. 
As pastor of the First Congregational Church of 
Los Angeles, he was the center of a very wide in- 
fluence, and both from him and from Mrs. Day the 
College has come to expect and has received effi- 
cient help. Alike the students and faculty and 
the church at Claremont were always glad to see 
and hear Dr. Day. 

Three additions came in 1895: Eev. H. W. 
Lathe, Rev. A. E. Tracy and Mr. H. G. Billings. 
Mr. Laihe, the pastor of the First Congrega- 
tional Church of Pasadena, soon left the State 
and resigned from the trusteeship. 

Mr. Tracy was a trustee ^ve years, on the 
Executive Committee four years, and for a time 
secretary of the Board. He was of missionary 
stock, and married a sister of the Harwoods, so 
widely known in Congregational circles for their 

[311] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

interest in the Church and its benevolences, and 
for their interest in the College. Mr. and Mrs. 
Tracy had enjoyed a wide experience in Western 
New England churches, and brought to the Col- 
lege not a little of the spirit of devotion and sac- 
rifice. Their oldest son, Edwards Ira, a promising 
graduate of Pomona, was drowned soon after 
leaving college, while teaching in New Hamp- 
shire. The loss was profoundly felt by his par- 
ents, by his class, and by the whole body of the 
alumni. 

Mr. Billings brought to the Board of Trustees, 
and especially to the Executive Committee, a wide 
and successful business experience, which was ap- 
preciated heartily. His sudden death after two 
years of service was felt to be a calamity to Po- 
mona. To his devotion to the College is due, no 
doubt, the generous interest manifested by Mrs. 
Billings after his death. 

The following year Mr. J. Eoss Clark and Eev. 
J. H. "Williams, D.D., were elected trustees. Mr. 
Clark was a valuable member of the Board, espe- 
cially in matters of finance and general business, 
and the Board was loath to part with him 
after five years of service. He felt the pressure 
of obligations to others so strongly that he 
declined to continue his official relations with 
Pomona. 

Dr. Williams ' long and successful pastorate at 
Eedlands is a sufficient tribute to his usefulness. 

[312] 



ADDITIONAL TRUSTEES i 

There has been no one on the Board of Trustees 
on whom the College could rely more confidently. 
His judgments were always calm, well poised and 
well considered. The College has not ceased to 
regret his loss from its councils, nor to regard 
him as one of its warmest and most active friends. 

In 1897 four members were added to the 
Board: Rev. Edward F. Goff, Mr. George H. 
Bixby, Mr. John H. Dole and Rev. Stephen A. 
Norton, D.D. Mr. Goff commended himself so 
fully to the Board during his ten years of service 
that when he surrendered his pastorate at River- 
side and his trusteeship, he was made business 
manager. One of the first objects of his atten- 
tion was the Commons and Inn. Here he quickly 
showed a master hand. The general business of 
the College grew to be onerous, and he gave up 
its details to an assistant, but continues to act as 
manager of the Commons and Inn, and to attend 
personally to some other important business mat- 
ters. His advice and cooperation are valued 
highly. 

Mr. Bixby is the son of Mr. Jotham Bixby, head 
of one of the oldest and most prominent Congre- 
gational families in Southern California. A grad- 
uate of Yale, he retains a taste for and habit of 
continuous study along chosen lines, in spite 
of an active and responsible business life. One of 
the youngest men on the Board, he was soon put 
on the Finance Committee, and his counsels have 

[313] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

been of recognized service. He has taken especial 
interest in the library. 

Mr. Dole had been a member of the Board only 
about a year when he was called to service in an- 
other world. This short official relation very in- 
adequately represents his personal and financial 
service, and that of his brothers, to the College. 
He was cashier of the People's Bank in Pomona, 
where for many years the College kept its ac- 
count, and for a time he was treasurer of the Col- 
lege. His loss in that position in the bank would 
have been more severely felt but for the happy 
promotion of Mr. C. M. Stone to his place, and the 
continuance of the Dole brothers in control of the 
bank. 

There was kindness, graciousness and real sym- 
pathy in all Mr. Dole 's relations to the College, its 
faculty and other officers, and in maintaining the 
College ideals he showed a spirit of helpfulness 
which is rare and marks a high type of the Chris- 
tian gentleman. He was the founder of the Dole 
Prize Debate. Many connected with the College 
lost in him a dear and helpful friend. 

Dr. Norton, the son of a home missionary, a 
brother of Professor E. C. Norton, a graduate of 
Amherst, and during his term of service the pas- 
tor of the First Congregational Church of San 
Diego, was for six years a highly esteemed 
member of the Board. When he accepted the 
pastorate of the old Congregational Church of 

[ 314 ] 



ADDITIONAL TRUSTEES 

Woburn, Massachusetts, he presented his resig- 
nation. He is still consulted from time to time in 
the interests of the College. 

Eev. George C. Adams, D.D., pastor of the 
First Congregational Church of San Francisco, 
was elected to the Board in 1900 to take the place 
of Dr. McLean as northern representative. After 
one term of service he resigned because of the 
difficulty in attending meetings. Dr. Adams gave 
an inspiring address before the Christian As- 
sociations of the College at Commencement in 
1900. 

In 1901 Rev. Henry Kingman, D.D., and Mr. 
Charles E. Walker were received into the Board. 
Dr. Kingman, as pastor of the Claremont Church, 
is necessarily in very close touch with the College. 
For a number of years he was on the Executive 
Committee, and often since his resignation from 
that position he has been called into council on 
important matters, and has prepared important 
papers in the interest of the College. His appeals 
in behalf of Pomona for financial help never fail 
of generous response. By inheritance, by educa- 
tion, by years of peculiar experience, and by his 
superb ability and rare, ripening Christian char- 
acter. Dr. Kingman is one of the great assets of 
the College. Mrs. Kingman most earnestly sec- 
onds him in his work, and his home abounds in 
hospitality. 

Mr. Walker, the president of the First National 

[315] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Bank of Pomona, is a financier of repute in the 
State. When the Doles gave up the People's 
Bank and Mr. Stone became the cashier of the 
First National Bank, the College transferred its 
account to that institution. At once Mr. Walker's 
financial ability was felt in college matters. He 
was put on the Finance Committee, and quickly 
took the lead in the investment and all the care 
of the endowment funds. In 1905 he was elected 
treasurer, and by reason of his position in the 
Bank, and his financial connections, is enabled to 
keep the funds continually, productively and 
safely invested. Not only in this, but also in 
many other ways his business ability is helpful 
and his advocacy is fruitful. Living near, he is a 
member of the Executive Committee, where his 
judgment is often needed. 

Mr. Stephen H. Herrick came on the Board in 
1902, although he had been for years practically 
showing his friendship for Pomona. Like Judge 
Harwood, he retains trusteeship in an eastern col- 
lege, the alma mater of himself and his son. Mr. 
Herrick is a bank president and an orange 
grower, but he finds time to do a large amount of 
Christian work nearer home, and for all South- 
ern California. His wide experience alike in 
business and educational matters, and even more, 
his consecrated Christian life and active benevo- 
lence, are appreciated heartily by the friends of 
Pomona. 

[316] 



ADDITIONAL TRUSTEES 

Eev. Walter B. Hinson, D.D., and Mr. Edwin 
F. Hahn were elected trustees in 1903. Dr. Hin- 
son is a Baptist minister, and was long settled and 
greatly beloved in San Diego. He remained on 
the Board four years, and was always a good 
friend of the College, although not active in her 
councils. 

Mr. Hahn, a lawyer who has grown into a wide 
practice in Pasadena, was the first alumnus 
elected to the Board of Trustees ; but his election 
was followed ^ve years later by that of Mr. Ar- 
thur M. Dole, and then by the election of Mr. 
Llewellyn Bixby. Undoubtedly this means that 
more are to follow, until the Board shall include 
a fair proportion of alumni. The importance of 
this action, as seen in the history of other educa- 
tional institutions, rarely is overestimated. In 
this way the friends absolutely vital to the life 
of the College are brought into its councils, and 
become the mouthpieces between the ruling 
powers and the great body of the alumni. 

An experiment of not a little interest was made 
in 1906, by the election for five years of ^ve men 
from the Church of the Disciples. These men are 
Mr. C. C. Chapman, Mr. John Fleming, Eev. 
Frank M. Dowling, Mr. W. L. Porterfield and 
Eev. A. C. Smither. Mr. Smither was made vice- 
president, and there was some measure of co- 
operation. The action of the general convocation 
of the Disciples ' churches seems now to indicate 

[317] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

that they will attempt to build a college of their 
own. 

Rev. Joseph H. Johnson, D.D., bishop of the 
Diocese of the Episcopal Church of Southern Cal- 
ifornia, and Rev. William Horace Day, D.D., were 
elected trustees in 1908. Bishop Johnson is a 
graduate of "Williams College, Williamstown, 
Massachusetts, and both by education and con- 
viction is heartily in sympathy with Pomona's 
ideals. On two important occasions he has deliv- 
ered valuable addresses at college functions, and 
in many ways has proved an effective helper. At 
the present time he is vice-president of the Board. 

Dr. Day, son and associate pastor of Dr. War- 
ren F. Day, and subsequently pastor of the same 
church, recently from the best schools in this 
country and in England, full of enthusiasm and 
rich in suggestion, was felt to be an important 
addition to the working forces. No church in the 
constituency should send Pomona so many stu- 
dents as his, the First Congregational Church of 
Los Angeles. 

Of the newer trustees, Mr. J. M. Elliott, presi- 
dent of the First National Bank of Los Angeles, 
felt compelled to resign after two or three years 
of service, because of the pressure of other busi- 
ness. Mr. E. P. Clark, whose father was one of 
the founders of Iowa College, comes with the an- 
cestral spirit. Mr. W. R. H. Weldon is a compar- 
atively new man, and a friend of Mr. Blanchard. 

1 318 1 



ADDITIONAL TEUSTEES 

Mr. B. A. Woodford, so long the successful man- 
ager of the Southern California Fruit Exchange, 
and Mr. F. M. Wilcox, who comes with a reputa- 
tion from similar college work in Dakota, bring 
to the Executive Committee the promise of 
strength and efficiency. 



[ 319 ] 



CHAPTER XXII 

ADDITIONAL PROFESSOES 
Very noticeable in educational circles during 
the last half-century has been the development of 
graduate study. The degree of Doctor of Philos- 
ophy was beginning to be familiar twenty-five 
years ago. A few teachers had received it. Its 
requirement, however, for teachers hardly was 
thought of. Now first-class colleges generally de- 
mand it of permanent teachers. The degree sig- 
nifies three or four years of specialized study 
after receiving the Bachelor's degree. This 
should mean a more comprehensive and thorough 
knowledge of one or two special subjects, and a 
wider range of general information. A man may 
become a well-equipped scholar without even a 
Bachelor's degree; at the same time, the number 
of those who actually secure outside of educational 
institutions what the degree signifies is very small. 
The present enlarged opportunities for study 
give to the modern teacher an advantage over 
earlier teachers, unless by special work the differ- 
ence has been made up by the latter. This advan- 
tage in a measure compensates in the case of the 
later teachers for the benefit enjoyed by the 
earlier ones of a longer connection with the insti- 

[320] 



ADDITIONAL PROFESSOES 

tution, and of having had a part in forming 
its policies and precedents. It follows that 
the more recent teacher in the life of an insti- 
tution may easily find himself on an equality with 
the earlier teacher. What the one has gained 
from opportunities the other has gained from 
experience. 

Pomona has been remarkably fortunate in her 
earlier professors, and her good fortune has not 
failed her in more recent instructors. While some 
have come and gone, around that honored nucleus 
from time to time have been gathered other per- 
manent teachers wholly worthy to preserve the 
traditions of the past and to meet new emergen- 
cies as they shall arise. 

In 1892 Mr. Frederick Horatio Billings, son of 
Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Billings, so favorably known 
in Pomona circles, was appointed assistant pro- 
fessor in the natural sciences. After two years of 
faithful work, Professor Billings resigned and 
went to Harvard for further study. He there 
took the Doctor's degree, and was appointed pro- 
fessor in the state university at Baton Rouge, 
Louisiana. 

Miss Marielma Fanny Phelps, B.A., followed 
Miss Allen in the women's department, vfith the 
title of acting principal for women and assistant 
in Latin and Greek. Miss Phelps, one of Presi- 
dent Gates' former pupils, with the best inten- 
tions and spirit, was young and inexperienced for 

[321] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

her responsibilities. She was earnest and faith- 
ful, and remained two years, doing good work. 

Miss Olive Lillian Austin, B.L., succeeded to 
the position, first as principal, then as dean of 
women and instructor in mathematics. Miss Aus- 
tin continued at the head of the young women's 
department for ^ve years. She was a good 
scholar, an excellent teacher, a woman of strong 
Christian character, and of experience in her par- 
ticular work. A hard worker, watchful at every 
point, she devoted herself to her calling, and 
richly merited and in large measure received the 
respect and confidence of every one. 

Her task was a difficult one, with preparatory 
girls and college women under the same roof. The 
necessary restrictions for the younger students 
were irksome to the older ones. The case was 
greatly simplified in the hall when the prepara- 
tory students no longer were received. Miss 
Austin has a host of friends who were sorry to 
have her leave the College and who warmly cher- 
ish her memory. She was granted leave of ab- 
sence for one year, and did not return. 

Professor Milton Erastus Churchill, Litt.D., 
driven from the deanship of Illinois College to 
Southern California by ill health, was made in- 
structor in Greek in 1903, and the following year 
associate professor of Greek and Latin. Since 
1907 he has been secretary of the faculty, a posi- 
tion whose scope was extended in 1911. In this 

[322] 



ADDITIONAL PROFESSOES 

latter year he was elected associate professor of 
German. While Professor Churchill is an accu- 
rate scholar both in the classical languages and in 
German, and while his work in the classroom is 
of a high order, he was found to be so efficient in 
certain committee work, especially in the matter 
of printing and publishing, which is of rapidly in- 
creasing importance, that it was felt that he 
might be unusually helpful in this capacity. Al- 
ready, with the chief editorship of the ** Pomona 
College Quarterly Magazine" resting on his 
shoulders, this prediction is fulfilled. 

In the same year as Professor ChurchilPs ad- 
vent, Mr. Charles Fuller Baker was elected in- 
structor in biology. At the end of the year he was 
called away to a rich experience in biological 
work in the island of Cuba, and subsequently to 
a like position in Brazil. In 1908 he came back to 
Pomona as acting professor of zoology, and the 
next year was made full professor. 

Professor Baker is a strong man and a com- 
manding teacher. He has a magnetic personality, 
and his presence imparts confidence in his word 
and work. An indefatigable worker himself, he 
excels in finding and inspiring men. 

His laboratory was a busy place day and night 
and some of his students did quite remarkable 
work. By the exhibition of rare fruits and plants, 
new to this part of the country, with instructions 
as to their value and their cultivation, he awak- 

[323] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ened a wide interest in their propagation. He 
was welcomed to all horticultural gatherings. In 
like manner the students were always ready to 
listen to him. He donated to the College a very 
extensive collection of material for use in his de- 
partment. Heartily in sympathy with the ideals 
of the College, he has worked with enthusiasm 
and has done much to build up the department. 
By means of his work, with Professor Cook's 
assistance, the Laguna Beach Laboratory was set 
in motion, and now with Mr. Forbes ' effective co- 
operation in securing land and building, it is 
likely to develop into an enterprise of great serv- 
ice to the College. The very valuable work 
wrought there under his direction in 1911 is de- 
scribed in an illustrated volume of permanent 
worth. 

Professor Baker is so strong and enthusiastic 
a worker in his own department that his tendency 
is to over-emphasize its importance in a well-bal- 
anced cultural college. At the same time, his ac- 
ceptance of an alluring call to a professorship in 
the Philippines occasioned no little regret. 

Four new men were taken on the faculty in 
1904: Rev. Arthur Maxson Smith, Ph.D., Mr. 
Mendal Garbutt Frampton, M.A., Mr. Wil- 
liam Polk Russell, M. A., and Mr. Robert r)a,y 
Williams, M.A. 

. Br. Smith was- elected inBtruQtor in philosophy 
and peds-gagy, and the. following. .year . prof essor. 



ADDITIONAL PROFESSOES 

of philosophy. He continued in this relation until 
1909, Yvlien he resigned his professorship on the 
ground that he was no longer in sympathy with 
some of Pomona 's ideals. 

Dr. Smith was a graduate of the first class at 
Pomona, took his Ph. D. and B. D. at Chicago 
University, and entered the Baptist ministry. 
Elected president of Oahu College at Honolulu, 
Hawaiian Islands, he accepted, and spent some 
years there. From this position after some time 
spent in Chicago he came to Pomona. His ac- 
knowledged ability, scholarship and experience 
raised high expectations and the faculty and all 
the friends of the College welcomed him heartily. 
He was popular with the students, and did strong 
work. His withdrawal occasioned much disap- 
pointment and regret. 

Professor Frampton came from Wisconsin 
University in 1904, and was made instructor in 
the English language and rhetoric. He was asso- 
ciate professor in these branches from 1905 to 
1911, when, at the beginning of his sabbatical 
year, he was elected professor of the English lan- 
gTiage. He had already taken graduate work both 
at Chicago and at Harvard, and now resumed his 
study at Harvard. Professor Frampton has been 
growing in scholarship and in general efficiency 
from the first day of his teaching in Pomona. It 
is understood that he put in a year of hard study 
with special reference to his work at the College, 

[ 325 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

and every one rejoices at his elevation to tlie 
professorship. 

Professor Eussell was elected first as teacher 
of mathematics in the Preparatory Department, 
and made so good a record that he was trans- 
ferred to the College Department and made as- 
sistant professor in 1908, and associate professor 
in 1912. He is a strong teacher, and is growing 
in his personal influence over his students and in 
the community. 

Professor Williams, a graduate of Pomona, 
after taking his M. A. at the University of Cali- 
fornia, first was made instructor in biology, and 
then instructor in biology and geology. At the 
end of the second year he went to Yale, where 
he took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He 
returned to his alma mater as instructor in phi- 
losophy. After one year he was made associate 
professor of philosophy, and two years later pro- 
fessor of psychology and education. Professor 
Williams' record at Yale and his work as a 
teacher have been gratifying. He built up his de- 
partment until it was necessary to have separate 
instruction in philosophy. 

In 1905 three additions were made to the fac- 
ulty : Mr. Francis Harding White, M. A., Mr. Wil- 
liam Atwood Hilton, Ph.D., and Mr. Charles 
Davidson, Ph.D. 

Mr. White was appointed instructor in history, 
to do the work in that department formerly done 

[326] 



ADDITIONAL PROFESSORS 

by Dr. George S. Sumner, who had been trans- 
ferred from the professorship of history to that 
of economics and sociology. He was an experi- 
enced teacher, and was known favorably as a 
writer of history. It was demonstrated quickly 
that he was a man of broad culture, in full sym- 
pathy with Pomona's ideals, a hard worker, and 
one interested in the welfare of the community. 
As a teacher he advanced first to assistant and 
then to associate professor of history. His first 
sabbatical year was spent at Harvard, where, 
with the strong commendation of his teachers, he 
took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. In view 
of this year of study he was appointed full pro- 
fessor of history. Dr. White has written several 
very pleasing and creditable hymns on important 
occasions. 

Dr. Hilton was first made instructor in biology, 
and was advanced to associate professor of zool- 
ogy. He was respected and valued greatly by the 
College, and it was with regret that his resigna- 
tion was accepted in order that he might take a 
like position in Cornell University. Later his 
willingness to leave a more lucrative position in 
the University of Minnesota to come back to Po- 
mona as professor of zoology, succeeding Profes- 
sor Baker, was very gratifying. Professor 
Baker's place was a hard one to fill and Professor 
Hilton proved to be an admirable successor. A 
witness of this fact is found in the later numbers 

[327] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of the ^^ Pomona College Journal of Entomol- 
ogy," of which Professor Cook and Professor 
Baker were the founders, Professor Hilton being 
now the acting editor. 

Dr. Davidson, a graduate of Iowa College, at 
Grinnell, Iowa, after a year of fruitful service for 
Pomona in visiting and in correspondence with 
the high schools of Southern California, as well 
as in other work, was called to organize the de- 
partment of education as professor in the new 
University of Maine. 

Eev. Charles Cummings Stearns, M.A., re- 
ceived the appointment of professor of Biblical 
history and literature and principal of the Pre- 
paratory School in 1906. A graduate of Yale, a 
teacher in both private school and college, a trav- 
eler in Bible lands, and a special student of ar- 
chseology. Professor Stearns brought a rich expe- 
rience to his life at Pomona. Withal he is a hard 
worker and a cultivated Christian gentleman. 
The Preparatory School has passed away, but 
Professor Stearns still finds work to do, if not in 
his own particular department, then in some 
other. His genial personality, sympathetic na- 
ture and broad scholarship bring him into 
friendly relations in and outside the classroom. 
He has returned recently from his sabbatical va- 
cation, which he spent in Turkey, Egypt, Greece 
and Rome, still further enriching mind and heart 
for his work. 

[ 328 ] 



ADDITIONAL PROFESSOES 

Mr. Eobert Tresilian Belcher, B.A., was born 
and educated in Ireland, and had long been a suc- 
cessful teacher when he was appointed instructor 
in mathematics in Pomona in 1907. The next 
year engineering was added to his instructorship, 
and subsequently he was appointed assistant pro- 
fessor of mathematics and engineering. His very 
accurate scholarship and thorough training make 
his services valuable to the College, while as a 
man he is respected and honored in the 
community. 

Mr. John Williams Hotson, after a year as in- 
structor in botany and another year as assistant 
professor of botany, had leave of absence for a 
year to study at Harvard. At his own request he 
was released from further service in 1911. In his 
particular branch Professor Hotson was a fine 
scholar and an efficient teacher, and it was with 
regret that his resignation was accepted. 

In 1909 two more essential members of the 
teaching force were added: Miss Grace Ella 
Berry, M.A., and Mr. James Alexander Lyman, 
Ph.D. 

Miss Berry, a graduate of Mount Holyoke Col- 
lege, came from Colby College, Maine, where she 
had been at the head of the young women's de- 
partment, to be dean of women and instructor in 
mathematics at Pomona. With warm hearts she 
was welcomed into the faculty, the Church and 
the community, and quickly found herself ^t 

[329] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

home. At present she has a large class of young 
women in the Sunday school. Her type of wom- 
anhood is broad, sympathetic and adaptive, 
whether in the classroom or in her office, whether 
threading the halls of the young women's home 
or off on some canon walk or drive. She finds her 
way to the hearts of her students and is their 
friend and confidant. Faculty and students rely 
on her judgment and rejoice in her leadership. 
The title of assistant professor of mathematics 
has been conferred upon her. She has become a 
part of the institution. 

Professor Lyman came from a position at a 
higher salary in an academy at Portland, Oregon, 
to be head of the chemistry department. A grad- 
uate of Beloit College, he took his Doctor's degree 
at Johns Hopkins. He is joint author, with Pro- 
fessor Morgan of the University of California, 
of a text-book in chemistry which is widely in use. 
While quiet and undemonstrative, he is scholarly 
and efficient in the classroom and laboratory, a 
man of positive convictions and strong Christian 
character. By reason of his early associations 
and profound beliefs, he is in full sympathy with 
Pomona's ideals, as proved by his sacrifices to 
cast in his lot with her. 

Mr. Maro Beath Jones, B.A., received the 
appointment of associate professor of romance 
languages in 1911. His scholarship and his long so- 
journ and much travel in the lands and among the 

[ 330 ] 



ADDITIONAL PROFESSOES 

peoples whose native languages he teaches, have 
given him peculiar fitness for his work. So great 
is the demand for these languages that it has been 
necessary to employ a second teacher for the 
department. 

Dr. Arthur V. Stoughton, B.A., was made in- 
structor in anatomy and physiology in the middle 
of the year 1911-12, when Professor Cook left Po- 
mona, and has since been appointed assistant pro- 
fessor of physiology and hygiene. 

An enthusiastic alumnus of the second graduat- 
ing class of Pomona, Dr. Stoughton entered very 
zealously into the work. Always a thorough stu- 
dent, his opportunities for study in the best med- 
ical schools and hospitals in this country and in 
Germany, and his wide experience, have given 
him a peculiarly happy training for his work. 
His personality, too, is a valuable asset, and 
no less his exceptional Christian spirit. He 
has acquired a strong hold on the student 
body, and possesses the confidence of the entire 
community. 

Judge Charles G. Neely did some work as in- 
structor in history and sociology in 1911 in the 
absence of Professor White, but his permanent 
appointment as professor of constitutional his- 
tory and law in 1912 was a part of the strong in- 
crease in the teaching force made that year and 
involving both professors and instructors. Judge 
Neely had been a lawyer and judge in Chicago for 

[331] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

many years, and was a leader in the Presbyterian 
Church. His acknowledged ability, strong char- 
acter and wide experience of men, together with 
his genial and magnetic presence, quickly made 
him a recogTiized force, not only in the classroom 
and on the platform, but also in personal relations 
with the students. He wins their confidence, and 
they respect his opinions. His presence and his 
voice give strength to the faculty, and are a help 
to the College. 

Another addition at this time was Mr. Willis A. 
Parker, Ph.D., who was appointed associate pro- 
fessor of philosophy. Professor Parker came di- 
rectly from his study for the degree of Doctor of 
Philosophy at Harvard, where he received high 
commendation from Professor Palmer, the head 
of the department of philosophy. He was older 
than the average man is at the time of taking 
his degree, and had enjoyed some years' expe- 
rience in the pastorate of the Christian Church. 
It is hoped that he will prove a valuable man 
in the lecture room, in the pulpit and on the 
platform. 

Yet another appointment of this year was that 
of Mr. Eugene Schofield Heath, M.A., to be assist- 
ant professor of botany for two years. Professor 
Heath came from the University of Nebraska, 
where he was highly recommended. He, too, has 
followed up the work of Professors Cook and 
Baker by issuing numbers of the ^^ Pomona Col- 

[332] 



ADDITIONAL PEOFESSOES 

lege Journal of Economic Botany'' creditable to 
the College and to himself. Professor Heath, as 
well as Dr. Hilton, spent the summer of 1913 at 
Laguna Beach, doing some excellent work. 



1533] 



CHAPTER XXIII 

DEDICATION DAY 

November 21, 1908, was a memorable day at 
Pomona. It was notable not so much for any par- 
ticular event or events, not for anything carefully 
planned and wrought out; but rather for the cu- 
mulative effect of a number of facts and events 
naturally brought together and emphasized, no 
one of them by itself remarkably noteworthy, but 
all combined vastly significant. The time and the 
conditions were evidently ripe for the culmina- 
tion which was realized. 

The fact that there had been no dedication for 
eight years added to the zest of the occasion. Af- 
ter so long a period, the occurrence of three dedi- 
cations at once was startling. It was as if the 
College had awakened to new life. The address 
of Dr. Hale the evening before was a happy intro- 
duction to the day, attracting many friends, and 
specially emphasizing the importance of the Ob- 
sei^atory which was to be dedicated. Dr. Hale 
honored the occasion by proclaiming publicly for 
the first time some important discoveries made at 
the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory. 

On the appointed morning a good number of 
alumni and other friends of the College were 

{334] 



DEDICATION DAY 

ready to join the academic procession, which in 
itself lent dignity and weight to the occasion. The 
exercises of dedication were prepared carefully, 
and were impressive. They were naturally retro- 
spective, and could not but be more or less 
prophetic. The cumulative impression as the au- 
dience passed from building to building was 
marked. The growing feeling was less one of sat- 
isfaction in present attainment than of assured 
promise for the future. 

In the new dormitory, the first provided for 
men at Pomona, the visitors seemed to see not 
simply the meeting of a present need, but much 
more the pledge that in the near future all the 
men, as well as all the women, should have a home 
on the college campus. It was a long step toward 
the ideal. In like manner the Observatory un- 
wittingly signified the lifting of a department 
hitherto little recognized into the forefront, where 
it might claim fraternal relations with like de- 
partments in the first and the best educational 
institutions. Most significant of all was the uplift 
felt in the possession of a permanent home for the 
library. This was central, and promised a great 
advance for every department of the College. As 
the audience listened to the recounting of the va- 
rious stages of change and development in the 
library, and then beheld the final attainment, the 
large, noble, fireproof building with its up-to-date 
equipment, a new sense of self-respect and dig- 

[335] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

nity was felt, together with an assurance of the 
larger respect of sister institutions. Another fact 
was the natural, almost necessary, inference that 
as heretofore at every advance movement there 
had been a corresponding increase of the student 
body, so now this greatest of all advances must 
bring a very large addition to the number of 
students. 

These impressions of the morning were deep- 
ened by the services at the church. Bishop John- 
son's virile address was entitled, *'A Look into 
the Future. ' ' It proved to be an actual portrayal, 
and contained many bright pictures of the life 
and work toward which the College was rapidly 
moving. 

Mr. Hunt, too, was introduced as ^^one who had 
looked into the future. '^ On a map of the en- 
larged grounds he showed his plan, adopted by 
the College, of the groupings of the several de- 
partments, and the buildings thereafter to be 
erected. The plan was so simple and natural, and 
at the same time so expansive and so adaptive, 
that it commended itself to all. Taken in connec- 
tion with the other impressions of the day, this 
graphic portraiture did much to visualize in the 
minds of all the ^* Greater Pomona.'' 

Whoever of those present that day has since 
conjured up the vision of Pomona has seen not 
the Pomona of the past, nor the present Pomona, 
but the future Pomona. Thus, without fore- 

[336] 



DEDICATION DAY 

thought or intention, ihe whole trend of the day's 
impressions was toward the future. The occasion 
became at once a revelation and a prophecy of 
the days to come, and thus significant beyond all 
expectation. Hitherto the urgent demands of the 
present had precluded the long, forward look, 
shutting out even a glimpse of the future that now 
loomed so grandly on the horizon. Now of a sud- 
den the eyes of all were opened, like the eyes of 
Elisha's servant, to see what before had been hid- 
den from them, namely, the ^'Greater Pomona.'' 
From this time on, all have planned and worked 
with reference to the new vision. A new era had 
begun. 

In joining the academic procession and partic- 
ipating in the dedication of the buildings, one 
must realize something of this attitude of mind 
and something of the impressions which gathered 
force as the procession passed from one exercise 
to another, in order that as it moves along he may 
be in sympathy with the occasion, and appreciate 
the spirit of the several exercises and the exalta- 
tion at the close. 

After forming on College Avenue, the academic 
procession marched directly to Smiley Hall and 
gathered about the steps at the south entrance. 
President Gates, speaking very pleasantly of the 
architects and contractors, and paying a compli- 
ment to the rapidity as well as the thoroughness 
and perfection of their work, introduced Mr. C. E. 

[ 337 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Richards, who represented the contractors. Mr. 
Richards, a Yale graduate and a man in full sym- 
pathy with Pomona ^s ideals, humorously referred 
to his workman's apron and to the real mortar- 
board near at hand in contrast with the academic 
gowns and caps. Then, expressing his satisfac- 
tion in a good job well done on hurried time and 
his deep interest and confidence in the future wel- 
fare of the institution, he delivered the keys to 
President Gates. Mr. William C. Fankhauser, 
president of the senior class, acting in the absence 
of Dean Norton, who was detained by illness, 
voiced briefly the appreciation of the dormitory 
from the students' viewpoint. He dwelt on its 
significance, and further referred to the antici- 
pated time when all the young men should be 
housed on the campus and receive the full benefits 
of the college life. 

The prayer of dedication followed, led by Rev. 
Mr. Lewis of the Christian Church, after which 
the audience sang, to the tune of ^^Louvan,'' the 
following hymn, written for the occasion by two 
of the young women of the senior class : 

"0 Lord, we lift our hearts in praise 
For bounteous gifts and strength of days; 
With grateful hearts Thy love we own, 
And yield our lives to Thee alone. 

"Thy blessing now, Lord, we pray 
On this Thy gift; Thy spirit lay 
On us, that we may faithful be 
Unto this trust received from Thee. 

[338] 



DEDICATION DAY 

"Grant that Thy presence here abide, 
Each act and purpose daily guide; 
Out from these hails may laborers true 
Go forth with joy Thy work to do." 

After the dedication of Smiley Hall the proces- 
sion re-formed and marched to the Observatory. 
Here Mr. Llewellyn Bixby, the donor of the build- 
ing, was introduced, and paid a hearty tribute to 
Professor Brackett for his loyalty and fidelity 
to the College and to the science of astronomy. 
He then delivered to him the keys. In receiving 
them Professor Brackett, in the name of the Col- 
lege and of science, feelingly expressed his grati- 
tude to the donors of the Observatory and the 
equipment, and to Dr. Hale and others of the 
Mount Wilson Solar Observatory for their help- 
ful advice in the construction and equipment of 
the building. He laid stress on the meaning of 
the occasion to the future of the College. ^'It is 
to be hoped," he continued, ^Hhat by this new 
equipment the threefold function of the teacher 
may be aided, namely, the advancement of knowl- 
edge, the instruction of the student, and the train- 
ing of the student to see, to think, and to seek 
after truth for himself." He closed with these 
characteristic words: *^May this be a laboratory 
where teacher and pupil shall work together, and 
together find God, the Creator and Soul of the uni- 
verse." Rev. S. G. Emerson, a classmate of Pro- 
fessor Brackett, then led in the dedicatory 

[339] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

prayer, and the exercises were closed with the 
singing, to the tune of * ^ Duke Street, ' ' of the fol- 
lowing hymn, composed for the occasion by Pro- 
fessor F. H. White : 

"The flaming spheres throughout the sky- 
Are torches lighting us to Thee. 

We follow o'er the starry way, 
Rejoicing as Thy steps we see. 

Far out in space our finite eyes 

Strive hard to pierce the vast unknown; 

Beyond each depth another lies; 
Infinity is on the throne. 

"Though we have searched the universe 

And failed to see Thee face to face, 
Teach us, God, that Thou art near ; . 

Thy spirit penetrates all space. 
Our faintest thought may find Thee out. 

Nor search in vain the worlds above. 
For Thou art present everywhere. 

And we are Thine, and Thou art love." 

The academic procession, coming from the Ob- 
servatory, found a crowd already gathered about 
the library steps. President Gates introduced 
Mr. Sumner, who had been instrumental in rais- 
ing the library endowment and had had charge of 
the construction of the building, with a kindly ref- 
erence to his recovery from a recent illness and 
to the satisfaction of having him participate in 
the exercises. Mr. Sumner, in handing the keys 
to. the president,, recalled previous dedications, 
the condition of , the College at ea;ch period, and 
the sigaifii3anc^ of. each event .to the f rieiids of the 

[ 340 3 



DEDICATION DAY 

College; and then portrayed the present condi- 
tions and pointed out something of the impor- 
tance of a permanent home for the library. 

President Gates, on receiving the keys, spoke 
of the work of the library as not simply depart- 
mental, but general, supplementing and focusing 
all departments. He characterized the Library 
as a great achievement, with a far-reaching out- 
look for coming days. Professor Bissell, chair- 
man of the Library Committee, recalled the time 
when the entire collection of books reposed in a 
little room in Sumner Hall, and paid a merited 
compliment to Dr. Spalding for her efficient work 
in developing the library. Rev. Dr. McLean, pres- 
ident of Pacific Theological Seminary, led in the 
dedicatory prayer, after which the following 
hymn, composed for the occasion by Professor F. 
H. White, was sung to the tune '^Italian Hymn'': 

"Out of man's darkest night 
Came forth a shaft of light, 

Piercing the gloom. 
After the long delay, 
See now it brings the day. 
Glorious the quick'ning ray, — 
Spirit of truth ! 

"Teach us the way to see; 
Keep our minds ever free, 

Open to light. 
May we face God and man, 
Fearing no earthly ban, 
Willing our fate to scan, 

S^Dirit of truth! 

[341] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

"For all the ages past, 
Even unto the last, 

Comes mighty aid. 
Safe stored in books of gold, 
Knowledge so manifold 
We may indeed be bold. 

Spirit of truth!" 

The exercises at the Church well sustained 
those at the several buildings. Following Bishop 
Johnson's address, which was published in the 
*^ Student Life,'' and Mr. Hunt's talk, printed in 
his pamphlet, came the fraternal greetings and 
abundant felicitations of the sister institutions, 
which were most cordially received. Dr. Strong, 
ex-president of Carleton College, Northfield, Min- 
nesota, an old friend of President Gates as well 
as of Pomona, gave a very congratulatory and 
sympathetic talk. Eev. Dr. J. K. McLean pro- 
nounced the benediction. 

The great day did not end here. In the evening 
the Choral Union, with sixty voices and an or- 
chestra of eighteen pieces, rendered delightfully 
four of the choruses of Haydn's ** Creation." Of 
this Professor Smith wrote in the *^ Student 
Life": ^*I think of the Choral Union concert in 
the chapel Saturday evening as the splendid fin- 
ishing touch in a day-picture that will long be re- 
membered by all friends of Pomona College, — 
Dedication Day." 



[342] 



CHAPTER XXIV 

POMONA ORGANIZATIONS 

Voluntary societies in a newly organized and 
growing college are a potent factor in its life. 
Few students belong to less than two, and many 
to five or six such organizations. Not infre- 
quently the student, wisely or unwisely, devotes 
more time and thought to them than to classroom 
work. They accordingly constitute an essential 
part of this history. 

Plainly so large a part of college life, left to vol- 
untary action, must be attended with danger. A 
note of warning has been sounded loudly of late 
in respect to the perils in this direction. It is 
reported that the acting president of the Univer- 
sity of California, while in general commending 
voluntary organizations in that institution, made 
very severe strictures on some of them. The 
character of such societies is the matter of prime 
importance. Already reference has been made 
to Pomona's Christian Associations, Athletic As- 
sociation, and to the organizations connected with 
the music and art departments. Similar associa- 
tions demand more specific mention. 

Pomona's society system is sui generis. The 
only national society represented here is Phi Beta 

[343] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Kappa, a chapter of whicli has just been granted, 
unless mention is made of the College Prohibi- 
tion League, a branch of the State, Coast and 
United States Leagues. This has at present four- 
teen members. A Pomona man has won the State 
and Coast championship, and taken part in the 
national oratorical contest. The various local so- 
cieties have grown up on the ground in response 
to the demands of the student body. 

The oldest and largest of the select student or- 
ganizations, the Pomona College Literary Soci- 
ety, is composed of both men and women. It was 
organized during the first college term, and in the 
absence of student experience in such matters, the 
members of the faculty guided and assisted in its 
organization and management. At first the meet- 
ings were held in the daytime. In 1890 it became 
exclusively a college society, the faculty with- 
drew, and the sessions were held in the evening. 
The object stated was ^Hhe improvement of its 
members in general literary work. ' ' Through all 
the years it has maintained its limited number 
and been true to its objects. As in the case of all 
the literary and debating organizations, the ses- 
sions are private, with the exception of two open 
meetings each year. The work in the Societ}^ is 
prepared with care, and is often worthy of com- 
mendation. Many of the alumni have expressed 
themselves as greatly indebted to this society for 
experience and inspiration. 

[344] 



\ 




POMONA OEGANIZATIONS 

There are maintained also fi.ve organizations 
primarily for forensic experience; two, Alpha 
Kappa and Delta Lambda, for the women, and 
three, the Pomona College Debating Club, the Ly- 
ceum^ and the Areopagus, for the men. They are 
all working organizations, intent on their pur- 
pose. From time to time they compete with one 
another, and sometimes in the unlimited home 
trials for the selection of those who shall take 
part in the intercollegiate oratorical and debating 
contests. Prizes are offered for declamation, ora- 
tory and debating ability. An organization of 
men and one of women, each having, with a fac- 
ulty representative, about a dozen members from 
the two higher classes, are understood to be pri- 
marily of a social character. 

Of a much more general and comprehensive 
nature are the Pomona College men's and 
women's organizations of recent origin, each of 
which is intended primarily to promote self-gov- 
ernment among its members. The women have 
already attained self-government with a good 
measure of success. The men have frequently 
discussed the subject, but have not yet adopted 
it. The men's organization has done some cred- 
itable work in providing for the reception and 
entertainment of visiting teams for physical or 
mental contests, in cultivating acquaintance w^ith 
the high schools, and in securing perpetual prize 
cups for high school competition in oratory and 

[345] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

debating. Both of these organizations foster the 
spirit of loyalty, and further unity of thought, 
feeling and action. 

Another very important organization is the 
Associated Students, formed in 1904. This in- 
cludes all registered students. Its purpose is to 
talk over and decide upon general student activi- 
ties, including those which have to do with inter- 
collegiate relations, to put them on a business 
basis, and to deal with delicate and difficult ques- 
tions. This organization, by reason of the unifi- 
cation of matters of general concern to the 
student body, proves of advantage in many ways. 
The students officer the society, and in general 
manage their own affairs, advising at times with 
the college business manager. Moreover, they 
have provided for an advisory committee in ad- 
dition to their executive committee, to act on im- 
portant matters. This consists of the president of 
the College, three members of the faculty, a mem- 
ber of the Board of Trustees, two alumni, and 
three of their own number. The action of this ad- 
visory committee carries weight, and has given 
satisfaction in some most trying situations. In 
fact, the student body itself, thus organized, is a 
strong, steadying, effective force for righteous- 
ness, and works naturally toward the same ends 
sought by the men's and women's organizations. 
The whole trend of college sentiment seems to be 
in the direction of throwing the entire responsi- 

[346] 



POMONA OEGANIZATIONS 

bility of student matters and student control upon 
the students themselves. 

There are several voluntary associations in 
which some of the faculty and some of the stu- 
dents work together for the same ends. The num- 
ber of these, the stimulus given by them to special 
and independent work, and their contribution to 
the breadth and depth of scholarship are surpris- 
ing and most significant to one not thoroughly 
familiar with such matters. They aid in the col- 
lection of specimens and the various materials 
used in different lines of study. Their meetings 
are open to others, and are helpful alike to mem- 
bers and visitors, for they present many of the 
finest scholars and most inspiring speakers on the 
various subjects under consideration. This sort 
of work, supplemental to that of the classroom, 
encourages special study and tends to the devel- 
opment of specialists in scientific work. The bent 
thus given sometimes determines the life's call- 
ing. When this is not the case, it may determine 
an avocation for life which is a source of enjoy- 
ment, of helpfulness to others, and perhaps may 
be otherwise fruitful. Many a business or pro- 
fessional man in this way acquires a taste which 
greatly enriches his life. The discoveries and 
theories suggested and wrought out from the im- 
pulse received in these meetings are often of per- 
manent value. 

The Science Club is the oldest of these organi- 

[347] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

zations, and might be called the father of them 
all. This club was founded in the early years 
under the immediate inspiration of Professors 
Brackett, Hitchcock and Cook. The object stated 
was ^'to increase our interest in and knowledge 
of the advancement of science." A further pur- 
pose was ^^the collection and care of specimens 
for the museum.'^ There .were twenty charter 
members ; Professor Hitchcock was the first pres- 
ident, Professor Brackett the second. Public 
meetings, carefully planned, were held monthly, 
and rarely failed of a good attendance and genu- 
ine interest. The papers by faculty and students 
were prepared with care and commanded respect- 
ful attention. 

The special work along astronomical lines has 
brought large fruitage. Under Professor Brack- 
ett 's inspiration the club early undertook to raise 
money with which to establish an astronomical 
observatory. The telescope came, and then its 
mounting, crude indeed at first, but of practical 
value. In due time came the beautiful Observa- 
tory with its facilities, and finally the Astronom- 
ical Society with its ^ ^ publication. ' ' We quote 
from this : ^ ' The meetings of this society will af- 
ford an opportunity for students and teachers to 
bring to other members of the society reports of 
their work. For residents of Claremont, gradu- 
ates of the college and others who have become 
interested in astronomy, the meetings of the so- 

[348] 



POMONA ORGANIZATIONS 

ciety afford an opportunity for the discussion of 
astronomical subjects, new and old, which are for 
any reason of special interest. At the formal 
monthly meetings of the society a program of 
prepared addresses is given, the speakers being 
chosen sometimes from the astronomy classes, 
sometimes from the faculty, while now and then 
an astronomer from abroad is secured for a lec- 
ture. There will be accomplished the enlarging of 
interest in science, the encouraging of observa- 
tion, and the reading of astronomical literature. 
Not the least among the objects of the society 
is the moral and material support of the 
Observatory. ' ' 

This society has both active and honorary mem- 
bers, and its membership is not confined to those 
connected with the College. The very cordial co- 
operation of the astronomers connected with the 
observatory on Mount Wilson is of great value in 
many ways. The number and the character of the 
addresses given before this society, and through 
it before the student body and the community, 
are counted as a valuable help. 

In 1904 the Science Club revised its constitu- 
tion, and commenced to divide its work under the 
form of seminars, which are really supplemental 
to classroom work. Two seminars were founded, 
The Pomona College Biological Seminar and The 
Pomona College Seminar in Mathematics and 
Physical Sciences, the latter subsequently assum- 

[349] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ing the name **The Pomona College Society of 
Pure and Applied Mathematics.'' According to 
the new constitution the Science Club now con- 
sists of the associated seminars of the College. 
The officers of the seminars constitute a govern- 
ing board of the Science Club. The president of 
the Club is the director of one of the seminars, 
each seminar in turn furnishing a president of 
the Club. Five union meetings open to the public 
are held annually. 

Membership in the Science Club is limited to 
upper-class men and members of the faculty who 
are especially interested in the lines of work 
taken up in the seminars. Its general purpose is 
unchanged, its object being to promote interest 
in science among the students, and to bring to 
their attention items of special interest, particu- 
larly recent investigations and discoveries. A 
high grade of work is demanded in the seminars, 
and the papers show much painstaking. The reg- 
ular meetings are now held on alternate weeks. 

With newer professors comes greatly added 
strength to these seminars, and new ones already 
have been started. *^Der Deutsche Verein" has 
for some years been maintained by Professor Bis- 
sell, with about thirty members, who are enjoying 
advanced reading in German. They occasionally 
produce a play in German. **Le Cercle Fran- 
cais" and **Circulo Espanol," under Professor 
Jones, give like advantages in French and Spaa- 

[350] 



POMONA ORGANIZATIONS 

ish. Professor Spalding has been instrumental in 
organizing the "Literature Seminar,'^ which is 
bringing out scholarly work on the part of the 
faculty. 

These organizations, made up of students and 
faculty members, include over a hundred students 
and twenty teachers. Hence they must be a fac- 
tor in the college life, and so in the college prod- 
uct. But the product, the sort of men and women 
the College turns out, is the final test of the Col- 
lege. The College puts its own brand on its grad- 
uates. It is known and judged not so much by the 
process of making as by the thing made. A bril- 
liant president may give prominence and repu- 
tation to an institution for the time being; 
specialists in its faculty may have a wide repute ; 
numbers may flock to it, and it may even have a 
waiting-list; but notwithstanding one or all of 
these facts, only as its average product is of high 
grade does the college, in the long run, acquire 
an enviable reputation. 

On this fact rests the prominence justly given 
to the alumni association. This is the great col- 
lege organization. Here the tinsel is cast off, and 
the real honor men and women stand forth and 
bear aloft the college banner. Loyalty and help- 
fulness appear here in their richness, and the 
banner is borne on to assured achievement. Every 
student in college days shows his loyalty, fidelity 
and helpfulness — in the classroom, in his soci- 

[351] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

etj or club — or he fails to show it and is an in- 
cumbrance, or worse. This loyalty in every 
situation is too often overlooked. At the same 
time, loyalty, fidelity and helpfulness in the 
alumni association mean vastly more, and are far 
more potent, than in current college activities. 
Character formed in the typical college, in after 
life bears the college brand; it is the ripe result 
and fruitage of the college life. Loyalty is an 
essential element of character thus formed. It is 
in reality the spontaneous outflow of gratitude to 
one's Alma Mater. Failure here is like failure 
to one's parents; it is pure degeneracy, and the 
one who fails not only brings opprobrium on his 
college, but will in the end reveal himself in his 
selfishness, or, withdrawing into his shell, shrink 
into obscurity. 

Every graduate of Pomona knows, or ought to 
know, that, as business men would reckon it, his 
alma mater has given him in the strategic years 
of his life, at the lowest possible reckoning, five 
hundred dollars toward his education. But the 
money value represents but the least of his obli- 
gations. Surely no alumnus thinks this college is 
carried on in a self-seeking or even in a for- 
mal and perfunctory manner. Verily no. The 
amount of personal interest, anxious thought, real 
sacrifice, one has cost teachers, even the teacher 
one may like the least, would be a surprise to the 
average student. Some, as they have themselves 

[ 352 ] 



POMONA ORGANIZATIONS 

come into the role of teacher, have begun to ap- 
preciate it; others, as parents, know something 
of what it is to be in loco parentis. To be unmind- 
ful of one 's obligations and forget Pomona is cer- 
tainly not to be expected; it is not a legitimate 
product of her enterprise; it does not bear her 
brand. Obviously there are not many who do not 
show loyalty for Pomona. 

Pomona is proud of her Alumni Association, 
proud of her alumni, her ^'greatest asset.'' This 
association is alive, active and far-reaching in its 
devising and in its execution on her behalf. On 
the financial side, as has been incidentally seen, 
it is strong. And yet here is by no means its 
greatest efficiency. In gathering up the graduates 
into its membership, and thus maintaining and 
giving expression to their loyalty, it is a power. 
Its annual meetings are invaluable in renewing 
old associations and forming new ties, in receiv- 
ing the new classes and recognizing the common 
brotherhood of all classes. The annual banquets, 
whose attendants are now counted in hundreds, 
are great occasions, overflowing with good fellow- 
ship and stimulating to high endeavor. It is a 
joy to drop business for a day, if need be to cut 
out some gratification, in honor of Alma Mater. 
Every alumnus goes back to work from such a 
feast with a quickened sense of love and devotion, 
and fired with a new zeal for helpfulness in life 's 
work. This Pomona spirit overflows to the stu- 

[ 353 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

dents met by the way, and to possible new 
students. 

But the good fellowship and expression of loy- 
alty are not all. There are working forces issuing 
from this association in the form of committees 
formally appointed, and in self-appointed com- 
mittees. Much time and thought are all along 
directed toward Pomona. Plans are proposed, 
the outgrowth of experience, which work out an 
advance in one direction and another. It is due 
not a little to this influence that class reunions are 
so well attended. 

Thus it is seen that the red blood of the loyal 
student, the real life of the College, as the years 
go by flows more freely in the alumnus. It is good 
to know that not alone in home gatherings are 
these collective influences felt. Terra Toma 
Bands, or Pomona College Clubs, are found in 
Berkeley, Stanford, Ventura, San Diego, New 
England and New York; and in Los Angeles are 
two, one of men and one of women. The gradu- 
ate who travels will be greeted by fellow alumni 
in China, Korea, Japan, Turkey, and in Mexico. 



[354] 



CHAPTER XXV 

POMONA PUBLICATIONS 

It is said that President Harper rarely met his 
faculty officially without making some reference 
to productiveness on the part of the teacher. By 
this he meant the careful product of thought and 
pen, in magazine articles and books. President 
Hadley, too, has particularly emphasized the im- 
portance of the institution's periodicals. This is 
perhaps a matter of greater moment in a univer- 
sity, where research work is made a specialty, 
than in a college. Nevertheless it must have a 
measure of importance in the college. The col- 
lege dependent on benevolence, especially in its 
early years, is apt to work its teachers so that 
they have neither time nor strength for much pro- 
ductivity of this sort. At the same time, the 
student publications, and those to which the fac- 
ulty and alumni contribute, all breathe the atmos- 
phere and cannot fail to reflect the mental and 
moral activity of any institution. 

A scholar of wide repute, in touch with national 
educational circles, first had his attention at- 
tracted to Pomona by means of its periodicals. 
These seemed to him of exceptional character for 
so young and small a college. Following up his 

[355] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

impressions, he found that the report of the gov- 
ernmental expert had placed her in every depart- 
ment in the first class. 

The stages of the development of these publica- 
tions are so distinctly marked that it should not 
be difficult to follow the process. 

Pomona's first publication was *'The Pomona 
Student/' two years afterward renamed the 
*^ Student Life.'' It was established during the 
second college year. The two societies, literary 
and debating, under the direction of the faculty, 
elected the editors. The members of the faculty 
supervised it for two years, but with the recogni- 
tion of distinct college classes the faculty with- 
drew from its oversight. Beginning as a four- 
page monthly, in newspaper form, it was changed 
to a twelve-page monthly, in semi-magazine form, 
under the new name, then to an eight-page 
weekly, and later to a sixteen-page weekly — all 
within seven years. In 1913 it began to be issued 
semi-weekly in newspaper form, with monthly 
numbers under different editors in semi-maga- 
zine form. An annual supplement called^ ^ Pot 
Pourri" was published for two years. 

There have been numerous other outward 
changes, but the more important ones have been 
in the substance, the variety and the style of con- 
tents. Strength came not only with an increasing 
number of students; it came even more with expe- 
rience.. The editors drew from their own experi- 

[a56] 



POMONA PUBLICATIONS 

ence, and also from that of the paper and from 
that of the College. Happily the editors came to 
be chosen by the whole student body. Thus the 
personality of the College, embodying its history, 
spirit and atmosphere, is reflected in the maga- 
zine. Its growth as a periodical, therefore, is 
commensurate with the growth and development 
of the College. It has been ^'filled with the 
thoughts, the feelings, yes, the action of the stu- 
dents,'^ and is not simply an echo of the person- 
ality of the editors. 

The magazine was self-supporting from the 
first, but became financially involved in connec- 
tion with an idealistic ^^ publishing company," so 
that its development w^as checked for a time. The 
alumni assumed the debt, and with the whole in- 
come free to expend on the magazine the improve- 
ment went forward rapidly. With its improve- 
ment its influence increased, and it has become a 
publication in every way creditable to Pomona. 
Noticeably, it is taking a broader and better con- 
sidered view of the college interests, and appeals 
more strongly to the leaders of thought and action 
as the years go by. This is seen in the new depart- 
ments added from time to time, and the wider 
range of vision in the magazine as a whole, and 
is reflected in the editorials and communications. 
The space given to the literary department once 
a month opens an avenue of expression and an 
experience of value to the students. The main- 

[357] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

taining of a closer touch with the alumni, too, is 
a real gain. Expert reports of music rendered 
and of departmental papers and lectures add to 
its effectiveness. Some of the faculty and alumni 
who have the right to judge affirm that the * * Stu- 
dent Life ' ' does more than any other one thing to 
mold judgment and to influence opinion in the 
College. This was the first college publication 
in Southern California, and the second in the 
State. 

The first annual of the junior class, called the 
*' Speculum, * ' was brought out by the class of 
1895 during the last term of the first college class. 
Successive issues have followed regularly, each 
one vying with those going before, until the pub- 
lication, in both size and make-up, is very pleas- 
ing and satisfying, and compares favorably with 
similar publications in institutions much larger 
than Pomona. Some of the earlier classes were 
small, but each issued a commendable volume. It 
meant hard work, and showed a degree of loyalty 
and class spirit of which the College well may 
feel proud. Nor has there been any lack in sub- 
sequent years. 

The class of 1904 greatly increased the size of 
the book, and it has since been further enlarged. 
It is hoped that by tacit agreement it will be de- 
cidedly Indian in its character every fourth year. 

Finding that the name *^ Speculum '' had been 
appropriated already by two colleges, the class of 

[ 358 ] 



POMONA PUBLICATIONS 

1896 changed it to *^Metate/' an Indian word for 
mortar or grinding-stone, which has been retained 
by subsequent classes. While the name has an evi- 
dent appropriateness, it may give the wrong im- 
pression of the publication. ^ ^ Grind, '^ in college 
slang, is a technical term; ^^ grinding'' is by no 
means so limited a term. There are expected to 
be good-natured ^^ grinds'' in the ^^Metate"; but 
it represents incomparably more ^^ grinding," in 
the work of preparing the pabulum of the college 
activities and happenings for mental enjoyment 
and stimulus. The editors are held in honor, and 
elected each year by the jimior class. Their work 
is done secretly until the volume is ready to be 
issued. 

The issuance of the ^'Metate" is always spec- 
tacular, and appeals strongly to the college spirit. 
It is preceded, by some little time, by the junior 
farce, the proceeds of which help to pay the cost 
of the volume. At times in the past attempts to 
thwart the juniors' well-laid plans have created 
not a little excitement. In the morning of the im- 
portant day, a very marked demonstration is 
made. In 1913 a party of wild Indians, befittingly 
mounted, invaded the town soon after daybreak, 
racing through the streets brandishing their 
weapons and giving the war-whoop at every turn. 
The juniors finally appear at chapel in white 
regalia, and at the close of the exercises the ^*Me- 
tate" is found on sale in the public hall, 

[359] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Each number of the publication is dedicated to 
some teacher or other person intimately con- 
nected with the College. College experiences fur- 
nish a fine field for pen and pencil. To portray 
sketchily and vividly the multiplied and varied 
experiences of the year is an art which calls forth 
the best that is in any class. Class loyalty is 
strong. Thus every class is put on its mettle to 
make in this portrayal through the ^ ^ Metate ' ' the 
best possible showing in comprehensiveness, orig- 
inality, brightness, and perfection of form. It is 
always recognized that the paper must be con- 
sistent with fairness and truth. There is no 
tolerance of unkindness or of partisanship, but 
student body and faculty afford a fair field with 
no favor. 

Taken together, the successive ^^Metates'^ af- 
ford the very best sources of history of the col- 
lege life from the students' viewpoint, provided 
one is in close enough sympathy with that life to 
read between the lines and fairly interpret facts 
and incidents. The relation of ' ^ Metate ' ' to Alma 
Mater is happily interpreted in the following quo- 
tation: ^^All the past year we have watched you 
in your varying moods and tenses, first in the ex- 
citement and novelty of a new year, then amidst 
the quiet seriousness of the week of prayer and 
the strong impulse of a new ambition; in the 
steady, persistent grind of college work and in 
the joyous gayety of your holiday humor; ever 

[ 360 ] 



POMONA PUBLICATIONS 

and always enthusiastic and whole-hearted. Not 
as outsiders have we looked, but our pulses have 
thrilled and our voices have rung out with the 
most spirited in the quick and eager 'Vive la, vive 
la Pomona!' As a class in the very heart of the 
college course we look back over three years spent 
in these sacred precincts 'neath the sway of the 
blue and white. Is it strange then that with will- 
ing hand we draw back the curtain to give, as 
truthfully and helpfully and pleasingly as we best 
may, our revelation of the inner life of the 
colleger' 

The first departmental periodical was issued by 
the department of biology. It started under the 
combined efforts of Professors Cook and Baker. 
Professor Baker always had some students who 
did research work. As a consequence he had on 
hand papers prepared with care, papers of practi- 
cal value, which for the sake of the public as well 
as for the sake of the students, might well be pub- 
lished. Professor Cook, through his own interest 
in horticulture and his many years of Farmers' 
Institute work, had a wide acquaintance with the 
horticulturists in this part of the State and read- 
ily secured financial aid. 

The first number of the * ' Pomona College Jour- 
nal of Entomology'' was issued in 1909, with 
Professor Baker as managing editor. The 
** Journal" has a wide exchange list, reaching into 
foreign countries, and has been noticed widely 

[361] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

and favorably. Some of the students' contribu- 
tions have brought the offer of scholarships from 
different universities. While the contributions 
are largely by present students and alumni, arti- 
cles are occasionally written by professors, and 
by graduate students of other colleges. 

The *^ Journal" deals primarily with parasitic 
and predacious insects of economic importance in 
Southern California. Several of the more noted 
pests of the orchards have been treated scientific- 
ally and exhaustively, particularly plant lice and 
scale, and three ^^ alarming pests" — the mealy 
bug, the red scale and the Mexican orange mag- 
got — have had special practical consideration. 
The ^^ Journal" has been of substantial value to 
Southern California, while as an avenue of pub- 
lication and a stimulus to the students it is cer- 
tainly helpful. During 1912 Professor Baker was 
sole editor. The editorship now falls on Profes- 
sor Hilton, who was influenced in his decision to 
return to Pomona by the field opened to him 
through the publication of the ^* Journal." He 
enters upon the work with much enthusiasm, and 
the numbers he has published indicate that there 
will be no falling off in the interest and value of 
the publication while it is in his hands. The name 
has been changed by Professor Hilton to the 
** Journal of Entomology and Zoology." 

Two years after the first issue of the ** Journal 
of Entomology," ^^The Pomona College Journal 

[362] 



POMONA PUBLICATIONS 

of Economic Botany'^ appeared, under Professor 
Baker ^s management. This publication also ap- 
pealed to the orchardists, and was financed at 
first by the citrus fruit exchanges and a few indi- 
viduals. A number of very practical articles have 
been published in it, which have had a wide cir- 
culation. Among them are one on ^ ' The Die-back 
of Citrus Fruits,'^ one on *'The Avocado Indus- 
try'' and one on ''The Mango in Southern Cali- 
fornia." Other valuable articles are on ''Aca- 
cias,'' "Trees for Southern California Avenues," 
"Plans and Plants for Small Places," and "A 
Botanic Garden for Southern California." This 
journal, too, seems to fill a need of this region, as 
well as to open to students an opportunity for 
publication. It has a very extensive exchange list. 
Professor Heath has continued its publication 
with acceptance. 

In the same year appeared also the "Publica- 
tion of the Astronomical Society of Pomona Col- 
lege," of which Professor Brackett is editor. The 
widespread interest in the Observatory, its well- 
known connection with the Mount Wilson Solar 
Observatory through the fraternization of the 
officers of the two institutions. Professor Brack- 
ett 's growing interest and reputation in astro- 
nomical matters, the commanding interest of the 
Pomona College Astronomical Society, together 
with the needs of the Observatory, rendered this 
publication quite necessary. It is a recog- 

[363] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

nized feature of Pomona, and is already self- 
supporting. 

Interest in its issues was accentuated by the ap- 
pointment of Professor Brackett to accompany 
Dr. Abbott, director of the Astrophysical Observ- 
atory of the Smithsonian Institution, on the astro- 
jQomical expedition to Algeria for the purpose of 
making some special observations and measure- 
ments of the sun's heat. The general aim was to 
compare these measurements with those made on 
Mount Wilson and Mount Whitney as data for 
investigating the variation in radiation of solar 
energy and heat, with possibly important conclu- 
sions as to the effect on the climatic conditions of 
the earth. This appointment of Professor Brack- 
ett was felt to bring Pomona into closer relations 
with astronomers and astronomical proceedings 
all over the world. The pages of the '^Publica- 
tion" so far have been rich in accounts of the 
doings of the astronomical world and all astro- 
nomical matters of passing interest, in contribu- 
tions from Professor Adams of Mount Wilson 
Solar Observatory, Professors Brackett and Wil- 
liams and Mr. Whitney of Pomona, and in articles 
of rare excellence from the students. 

A publication of no little moment is ''The Po- 
mona College Bulletin. ' ' This includes primarily, 
as one of its issues, the annual catalogue with its 
supplements. The other numbers are of varying 
interest and importance. Of permanent value are 

I 364 ] 



POMONA PUBLICATIONS 

such issues as ^'The Pomona College Campus/' 
^^A Man's Life at Pomona/' ^^Eegister of Non- 
Graduates/' '^Bulletin of 1907," '^Bulletin of 
1910," and "Pomona after Twenty Years"; also 
the "Keport of the President to the Friends of 
Pomona College." Every year produces some 
fresh and valuable ^ ^ Bulletins. ' ' 

The "Pomona College Quarterly Magazine" 
has just appeared, with Professor Churchill as 
editor-in-chief, and an advisory board consisting 
of Miss Alice M. Parker, Miss Edna L. Eoof and 
Mr. Ealph J. Reed for the alumni, and Professor 
Spalding and Professor Williams for the College. 
The first number was taken up with reports of the 
twenty-fifth anniversary of the incorporation of 
the College, which are of great interest and pro- 
found significance to all the friends of Pomona. 
The second number has a wide range of articles 
from members of the faculty and from alumni, 
and a fund of information for those interested in 
college matters, all of which gives promise of an 
indispensable magazine. 

Verily, it should be the supreme expression of 
the College, a happy medium of communication, 
not only of facts but of ideas, among the alumni 
themselves and between the alumni and the Col- 
lege, as well as between the College and the out- 
side world. Its columns should be open to the 
free discussion of the general educational ques- 
tions of the day, and especially to the important 

[365] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

home questions that come up in connection with 
the growth and development of the College. It is 
to be hoped that some personal experience will be 
found here, with corrected judgments that have 
come with a wider participation in the activities 
of graduate life. The opportunities and demands 
of the outside world will doubtless here be ex- 
ploited. But above all else this magazine must 
breathe the atmosphere of the loving loyalty of 
children to their Alma Mater. 



I 366 J 



CHAPTER XXVI 

FINANCIAL HELPERS 

Pomona had from the first the advice and coop- 
eration of the Congregational Education Society. 
Very early she began to feel the strength of its 
helping hand. More and more as the years passed 
was this helpfulness realized, not only in gifts of 
money, but also in the confidence which came 
from the Society 's endorsement. The money con- 
tributions have been by no means small, and they 
have come at critical junctures, so that they have 
done double service ; while that steady, persistent 
endorsement, both public and private, which 
means so much to Congregationalists, has given 
courage and hope in the darkest days. 

The remark has been heard often that '^no Con- 
gregational college ever failed.^' If the influence 
of these colleges may fairly be traced far and 
mde in the Christian civilization of the country, 
in the loyalty shown to its cherished institutions, 
and in the evangelization of other countries, what 
a noble tribute does it constitute to the society 
Avhich has fostered them so zealously and so 
wisely ! All honor to this grand old society which 
is doing such a strong and magnificent work. Po- 
mona is profoundly grateful to it for all the help 

[367] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

she lias received, and pledges to it her loyalty and 
affection, and the return to Christian civilization, 
through her children, of full value with interest 
compounded. 

The very wide range and intensity of interest 
taken in a young Christian college, to one who has 
not given the matter serious and intelligent 
thought, is amazing. The names of those who 
have made contribution to Pomona — personally, 
through churches, Sunday schools. Young Peo- 
ple's Societies, and other organizations — would 
run up far into the thousands. Many of these 
givers in large groups have known little more 
than the name and the character of the institution. 
But the recorded names of individual givers are 
more than one thousand. Even the list of those 
known to have made real sacrifice for the College 
is a long one. Possibly, too, Pomona has not the 
name of the one who, in the Master's eye, has 
given more than any other. Still further, possibly 
the leverage which has done most to lift the Col- 
lege to higher attainments has been applied by 
one who had no money to give. 

To a Christian the sense of consecration to a 
purpose is sacred. It has more than money 
value. Consecrated gifts are not generally ex- 
ploited, but they sometimes come to be known in- 
cidentally. ^'The Student Life'' says: ^^ There is 
such a thing as consecrated money. When the lit- 
tle boy scarcely entering into his teens gives 

[ 368 ] 



FINANCIAL HELPERS 

twenty-five dollars of money to Pomona, earned 
by picking berries and marketing them, because 
bis Christian father tells him what a Christian 
college means, that money is consecrated. When 
Sunday-school classes give of their mites to raise 
fifty dollars, because their teacher has stirred 
their hearts and brought them into sympathy 
with the work, that, too, is consecrated money. 
When a Christian business man, whose own 
church is worshiping in a shell upon leased 
ground and long has needed a new building, says, 
^Wait; I must give two thousand dollars to Po- 
mona College this year,' that is consecrated 
money. ' ' 

Another instance is cited among many more 
which might be mentioned. A Christian physi- 
cian, learning through an old army comrade of an 
effort to endow a professorship of Biblical litera- 
ture in Pomona, voluntarily drew his check for 
the bounty received when he enlisted in the Civil 
War thirty years before, which he had kept as a 
sacred and separate investment, and gave this me- 
morial of his army life toward that endowment. 
Such side-lights from time to time give a glimpse 
of some of the sources whence come the means by 
which the College is maintained. It is not sur- 
prising that those in authority feel the sacredness 
of their trust, and are prompted to watch care- 
fully lest this money be spent lavishly or unad- 
visedly. In this light it is due to the cause of 

[ 369 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

Christian education, more than to the individual 
givers or their friends, even at the risk of leaving 
unnoticed certain persons whose spirit and deeds 
would merit mention, to call to mind the names 
of some not related officially to the College, who 
have been specially helpful. 

If one were to begin specifying the particular 
friends of the College in the Pilgrim Church of 
Pomona, it would be difficult to find a stopping 
place. And yet a few names are written so large 
on the historic page that they cannot be passed 
by. At the close of the second of the public 
church services which led up to Pilgrim Church, 
where the idea of the College was first promul- 
gated, Mr. D. L. Davenport was the first to come 
forward and make a pledge. He was then living 
in a barn, but he promised ^ve hundred dollars, 
and promptly paid it. It was not by any means 
the only time that he has volunteered his gifts. 

Dr. B. S. Nichols, too, and his family are promi- 
nent both in the earlier and the later history of 
the College. How many times did Dr. Nichols 
speak the word and bestow the gift that gave new 
courage and hope in the darkest days of Po- 
mona's history! Never was appeal made to him 
in vain. The same story of helpful interest, in 
other ways as well as in money, might be told of 
Mrs. Nichols and other members of the family. 

As connected by marriage with this family, 
Mrs. Loraine H. Paige should be remembered. 

[ 370 ] 



FINANCIAL HELPERS 

Then, too, there is the Lorbeer family; judged 
from the number of that name on the college cata- 
logues, if in no other way, Pomona has had no bet- 
ter friends. Again, there are the names of Misses 
Sarah E. and Mary Wheeler, whose prayers and 
gifts have been ever going up as memorials before 
the Heavenly Father. 

Thus family after family and individual after 
individual come to mind, characterized by known 
acts of friendliness, not the least of which have 
been supplications to the Giver of all good, until 
nearly the entire membership of those early days 
has been passed in review. 

Nor were the friends of the College in the city 
of Pomona in the early days limited to those con- 
nected with the Pilgrim Congregational Church. 
It would be strange indeed not to mention Mr. A. 
T. Currier of the Baptist Church, Mr. J. M. 
Mitchell of the Methodist Church and Mr. Gr. H. 
"Waters of the Christian Church, while many 
other names are recalled. 

In this connection one must emphasize the gen- 
erosity of the Claremont Church. At first it had 
few families besides those officially connected 
with the College ; but even then its gifts to the Col- 
lege were surprising. While wealth, in the mod- 
ern use of the term, has found little place in the 
Church, nevertheless the appeals in behalf of 
Pomona repeatedly and always have brought 
gifts which in their f reeness and largeness have 

[ 371 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

amazed every one. To specify would be to begin 
with the pastor and go right down the catalogue. 
If almost any one connected with Pomona dur- 
ing the first ten years were asked to mention the 
man most helpful to the college, outside of the of- 
ficial family, the reply would be unhesitatingly, 
^^Mr. Thomas Barrows." A minute of the fac- 
ulty at the time of Mr. Barrows' death voices a 
comprehensive appreciation in which all who 
were in a position to judge would join: ^*In view 
of the death of Mr. Thomas Barrows, the faculty 
of Pomona College wish to express their deep 
feeling of personal loss ; their appreciation of the 
many services he has rendered to them as indi- 
viduals and to the College which he loved so un- 
selfishly ; and their sympathy for each member of 
the family circle. From the first Mr. Barrows' 
interest in all that pertained to the welfare of the 
College was constant, and his personal efforts for 
its good unceasing. His faith in that which Po- 
mona was to do and be is shown by the fact that 
he was the first one outside of Pomona to entrust 
his children to its care, as he was also the first 
to establish his home in Claremont and become 
a citizen of the hoped-for college town. Although 
he had no official connection with the institution, 
it is but true to say that few have given to it more 
of thought, of love or help. In darkest days his 
faith never wavered, and by it we have again and 
again b#eii strengthened. While we must sorrow 

[372] 



FINANCIAL HELPERS 

that so steadfast and loyal a friend has gone from 
us, we rejoice in the noble life that was with us 
and that now ever liveth in the presence of the 
Lord whose he was and whom he served.'^ 

Another character, very different but very 
striking, is mentioned here, not for the amount of 
his pecuniary gifts, but for his interest in, devo- 
tion to and sacrifice for the College — Eev. Sher- 
lock Bristol. Mr. Bristol had a strong, positive, 
unique personality. In his frequent visits to Po- 
mona he always left some token of his self-sacri- 
ficing love, either by prayer and counsel or 
material gift, or both, making his visits a quick- 
ening of faith, a renewal of hope, and a general 
uplift to the burden-bearing officers of the institu- 
tion. As a token of affection for ^^ Father Bris- 
tol, '' some of his friends gave a small memorial 
fund to the college which he so dearly loved. 

One of the early friends of Pomona, and the 
first large giver, was Mrs. Nancy M. (Holmes) 
Field of Monson, Massachusetts. After the death 
of her husband. Rev. Levi Alpheus Field, at Marl- 
boro, Mrs. Field with her daughter returned to 
her parental home at Monson to care for her par- 
ents. Here by reason of her natural ability, her 
education and experience, as well as her conse- 
crated life, she made herself useful to the church, 
the academy and the community. She was a 
woman of exceptionally strong, positive and effec- 
tive character. Mr. Sumner, as a teacher in the 

[373] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

academy, and afterward as pastor of the church 
to which she belonged, for fifteen years was 
brought into friendly relations with her. He 
united her daughter in marriage to Mr. Harlan 
Page. 

After Mr. Sumner *s removal from Monson, the 
ties of friendship were kept warm and strong by 
correspondence, by occasional visits, and by Mrs. 
PiekVs interest in the work in which he was en- 
gaged and her contributions made to it through 
him. The same sort of relation was maintained 
with Mr. Cyrus W. Holmes, Jr., the brother of 
Mrs. Field. Wliile Mr. Sumner, with his family, 
was traveling in foreign countries in 1890 and 
1891, both her father and this brother died very 
suddenly about the same time. On his return to 
America Mr. Sumner was detained by Mrs. Sum- 
ner's illness at Albany, New York, the home of 
her brother, and visited Monson, calling on both 
families. Afterward he wrote to them, suggest- 
ing the adoption of Pomona and the concentration 
of their benevolence so as to make it the more 
eifective. Still later he spent another day in 
Monson and called on them. Nothing whatever 
was said to Mrs. Field about the matter referred 
to in the letter until she herself mentioned it in 
the hall as Mr. Sumner had his hat in hand to 
leave. She then expressed her desire to help Po- 
mona as she was able, and herself suggested the 
giving of five thousand dollars each year. When 

[ 374 ] 



FINANCIAL HELPERS 

asked the number of years, she fixed that as ten. 
A week or more later she signed a contract to give 
Mtj thousand dollars on these terms. She felt 
that by giving in this way she had some measure 
of protection, as she could watch the development 
of the College. 

Mrs. Sumner, having partially recovered from 
a surgical operation, was taken home. Mrs. Field 
about the same time went on a visit to the home of 
her daughter, Mrs. Page, in Philadelphia, from 
which place she wrote to Mr. Sumner asking per- 
mission to make one or two changes in the form 
of the contract. The document was returned to 
her for that purpose, and a new contract came 
back without material alterations, save one sug- 
gested by Mr. Sumner. The death of Mrs. Field 
occurred very soon after this. 

Practically at the same time, and intimately 
connected with the contract from Mrs. Field, 
came the contract from two members of her 
brother ^s family, Mrs. C. W. Holmes, Jr., and 
Miss Esther R. Holmes. Mrs. Holmes, the sec- 
ond wife of Mr. Holmes, was known to Mr. Sum- 
ner for a dozen years as Miss Sophia B. Converse, 
whose home was in the family of Mr. Horatio 
Lyon, elsewhere in this chapter referred to as the 
husband of Mrs. Lyon, a friend of the College. 
Mr. Sumner joined Mr. and Mrs. Holmes (then 
Miss Converse) in marriage, and was a frequent 
visitor in their home. There are few more genial, 

[375] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

more conscientious, more unselfisli and more ef- 
ficient women in the home, in the church and in 
society than was Mrs. Holmes. Her stepdaughter, 
who grew up and united with the cliurch during 
Mr. Sumner's pastorate, was deprived of this sec- 
ond mother not very long after the death of her 
father, and has since developed a largeness and 
strength of womanhood in the use of a fortune 
that are very rare indeed. It was a real satisfac- 
tion to widow and daughter to pay so well-mer- 
ited a tribute to the husband and father, and their 
contract for twenty-five thousand dollars with 
which to build a college hall was commemorative 
of Mr. Holmes. 

The grandest feature in these two gifts was 
their timeliness. The donors accepted in confi- 
dence and good faith the assurances of the 
founders of Pomona that it was a Christian col- 
lege, backed by the Congregational churches of 
Southern California and of the whole country, 
that it had strong foundations and large promise 
for the future. They knew something of similar 
institutions under the denomination's fostering 
care, and something of the prospects of Southern 
California. They had historical grounds for their 
confidence. Their confidence gave others confi- 
dence, and in the providence of God was a very 
important factor in the building up of the College 
to its present success. 

In the very next house to the home of Mrs. 

[376] 



FINANCIAL HELPERS 

Field lived the family of Horatio Lyon, a wealthy 
manufacturer whose death occurred before Mr. 
Sumner left Monson. Mrs. Lyon was an active 
member of the same church, and one who enjoyed 
giving and took real pleasure in adding to her gift 
something of her own work to attach to it a per- 
sonal flavor. She was a warm friend, and was 
ever ready in the day of small things to help some 
project of the College. In her will she left ten 
thousand dollars to Pomona, at the suggestion of 
her lawyer, Mr. Henry A. King of Springfield, 
Massachusetts, an old friend of Mr. Sumner's. 
Mr. King is now a judge of the supreme court of 
the State and has rendered other valuable serv- 
ices to the College. 

Among the bequests to the College, special 
mention should be made of one from Miss Mary 
E. Elwood, which came through Mr. John P. Fisk 
of Eedlands, one of Pomona's best friends. Miss 
Elwood earned her money with the needle, and 
wished to help other girls to an education which by 
reason of poverty she had been unable to obtain. 

Mr. Hiram E. Phelps of Ontario intended to 
leave Pomona by will property worth perhaps 
twenty thousand dollars; but owing to his igno- 
rance of the California law prohibiting the giving 
by will of more than one-third of one's property 
to benevolence, the College received only about 
one-fifth of that amount. 

Mr. Joseph Bent of Escondido left Pomona an 

[ 377 ] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

interest in certain lands located in different 
States, which may prove of large value. 

One of the most interesting and best-known 
characters in this country in the past twenty-five 
years was Dr. D. K. Pearsons of Chicago, who 
died in 1912. His career was unique. It was 
carefully and definitely planned and worked out 
to the finish. Born a poor boy, unable to secure 
the education he earnestly desired, he procured 
what academic training he could and obtained a 
license as a physician. He married a noble, 
broad-minded and devoted Christian woman, and 
they together mapped out their plan of life. They 
had both come in touch with Mary Lyon and her 
great educational work for women, and were 
deeply impressed by it. 

Dr. Pearsons began the practice of medicine 
in western Massachusetts, where he developed 
marked financial ability. In accordance with the 
plan mutually formed, he sold his practice and 
went West, finally settling in Chicago. Business 
was successful, and he gave it his undivided at- 
tention, not neglecting the Church and missions 
meantime, until he was seventy years of age. 
From that time his life 's work was to give — ^very 
largely to colleges — the millions he had accumu- 
lated. In this giving he found the joy and bless- 
edness of his whole life. He died without prop- 
erty, save a little money in the bank, which had 
been paid him as an annuity. 

[ 378 ] 



FINANCIAL HELPERS 

Dr. Pearsons' first gift to Pomona was made 
during the last throes of an exhaustive campaign 
to raise seventy-five thousand dollars in order to 
secure a conditional gift of twenty-five thousand. 
The time limit was at hand, and the prospect 
very dark indeed. To have failed would have been 
a terrible disaster. It would have discredited the 
College where and when she most wanted credit. 
Hence the telegram that brought the news of 
a subscription of twenty thousand dollars 
from Dr. Pearsons was received with profound 
gratitude. 

His next gift was also most timely. The Col- 
lege had outgrown not only her meager facilities, 
but every semblance of proper accommodation, 
and the science department literally was crowded 
out of Holmes Hall. Dr. Pearsons, with his col- 
lege experience, was quick to appreciate the need, 
and sent a check for twenty-five thousand dollars 
for the building of a hall of science. Later the 
promise of fifty thousand dollars from him was 
the sole leverage, aside from the work of the Col- 
lege, for raising an accumulated debt of sixty- 
seven thousand dollars from the Congregational 
churches of Southern California. It was su- 
premely effective with the churches. This money 
was not to be swallowed up, not to go into the 
kind of buildings whose support would be a fur- 
ther burden, but to become endowment, the inter- 
est of which would be a perpetual source of help. 

[379] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

The last gift from Dr. Pearsons made tlie 
men^s dormitory possible, and was a lift toward 
the largest fund the College had attempted to 
raise. Both the times and conditions of each of 
Dr. Pearsons' four gifts are proofs of his sagac- 
ity and penetration in discovering alike the needs, 
the weakness and the strength of the College. It 
may be doubted whether his money has helped 
Pomona more than his character and his wis- 
dom. The visits of Dr. Pearsons to Southern 
California, and especially the winter spent in 
Claremont, were a benediction to students and 
faculty. 

One of those most deeply interested in Pomona, 
and a generous giver, is Miss Martha N. Hatha- 
way. A characteristic gift of hers has proven 
much more valuable than its appraisement 
showed at the time it was given, and the amount 
of her donations, taken together, is larger than 
the sum given by any other benefactor to the 
date of this history. 

Miss Hathaway is a New Englander by birth, 
the daughter of Eev. George Whitefield Hatha- 
way, who spent his later years in Southern Cali- 
fornia. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke, and 
was for some years a teacher; for many years 
after the death of Mrs. Llewellyn Bixby, her sis- 
ter, she lived in the family of Mr. Bixby, acting as 
the housekeeper and the mother of the children. 
After Mr. Bixby 's death she came to Claremont. 

[ 380 ] 



FINANCIAL HELPERS 

Evidently she was born in a benevolent atmos- 
phere, educated to benevolence, and benevolent 
from principle. She lives quietly and modestly, 
interested and helpful in every good work. Cer- 
tainly the College has occasion to be supremely 
grateful to Miss Hathaway for her princely and 
opportune gifts in its extreme needs. Happily 
she has the satisfaction of seeing, during her life- 
time, some of the rich fruitage of her thoughtful 
charities. 

The Bixby family, with a branch of which Miss 
Hathaway is so intimately connected, is one of the 
oldest and strongest in Southern California. 
Mrs. Jotham Bixby is a sister of Miss Hatha- 
way. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jotham Bixby have also 
been friends of the College, and from time to time 
have given it the helping hand. Mr. George H. 
Bixby, one of the trustees, belongs to this family, 
and Mr. Llewellyn Bixby, an alumnus trustee, 
came under the molding influence of Miss 
Hathaway. 

Mrs. Emily A. Billings (Mrs. H. G. Billings), 
after the death of her husband, in consideration 
of an annuity, deeded to the College a valuable 
ranch, and later gave a scholarship, as well as 
other amounts, whose use was not designated. 
Mrs. Billings was a warm friend, and was con- 
stantly helping one or more students, preferably 
Chinese or Japanese. Her death was a real loss 
to the College. 

[ 381 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

A very sacred tie binds to Pomona Mr. and 
Mrs. A. S. Bridges. Their daughter Mabel, a 
gifted and attractive young woman, but having a 
feeble constitution, became a student at just the 
time and under the conditions to enjoy intensely 
the college life. She was interested and active in 
every phase of activity at Pomona, especially in 
music, for which she had a passion. But in the 
midst of her college course, after a brief illness, 
she passed away. Her death was deeply felt in 
college circles, and there was profound sympathy 
for her parents, who in their hearts and by their 
deeds have fostered most generously the memory 
of Mabel in connection with the College. 

At different times gifts amounting to twenty- 
five thousand dollars have been made to Pomona 
by Mrs. Joseph N. Fisk of Boston. Mr. Fisk, a 
successful merchant in Boston, was born in Stur- 
bridge, Massachusetts, only a few miles from the 
birthplace of Mr. Sumner. In view of Mrs. Fisk^s 
gifts, the professorship of mathematics was 
named for Mr. Fisk at her request. 

One of the most thoughtful and considerate 
helpers, as respects time, conditions and the ap- 
parent motive, has been Mr. Charles M. Pratt, a 
classmate of Dean Norton. As early as 1897, 
without solicitation or any previous word, and 
with a very kind letter, came a check from him for 
'Q.vQ hundred dollars, to be expended in books for 
the library. This gift came annually, until the 

[382] 



FINANCIAL HELPERS 

College was attempting to secure library endow- 
ment, when Mr. Pratt proposed to ^'fund'' his 
annual gift. When later it was proposed to endow 
the ** Edwin Clarence Norton Chair of Greek Lit- 
erature,'^ Mr. Pratt offered to contribute to that 
fund. Only a man familiar with the needs of a 
college, and watchful of its progress, as Mr. Pratt 
has been in his long service as trustee of Amherst, 
would have given so wisely. In recognition of his 
helpfulness in the building up of the library, the 
large room devoted to books of reference is 
named ^'The Pratt Reference Library. '' 

It is a cheering token of the increasing intelli- 
gence among the helpers of educational institu- 
tions that there is less and less tendency to tie up 
donations and thus possibly cause embarrassment 
in the changes of future years. Pomona's gifts 
have been made largely without such conditions. 



[383] 



CHAPTER XXVII 

CBISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

The early financial experience of the pioneer 
college in new sections of the country is every- 
where much the same. The fluctuations of for- 
tune at this stage of progress are rapid and 
extreme; the tide ebbs and flows with the pros- 
perity of the institution's constituency. 

Pomona, notwithstanding her exceptional con- 
stituency, has been subject to great stress in 
financial matters. In the first place, the high 
ideals, and perhaps the extraordinary hopeful- 
ness, of these pioneers of Southern California 
have led to the demand for finer homes and finer 
public appointments than those most common in 
new countries. In the second place, the settlers 
in most cases have had to wait from three to five 
years for the income from their lands instead of 
one year, as generally is the case in pioneer set- 
tlements. More than this, for the first ten years 
even this delayed income was at best very small 
and uncertain. Consequently, mortgages were 
nearly universal, in spite of the small bank ac- 
counts of the settlers. The extent of the economy 
practised by those who had been accustomed to 
comforts much above the average was often pain- 

[ 384 ] 



CRISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

ful to witness. But perhaps more than to these 
extraneous matters, Pomona's stress has been 
due to her rapid growth and her determination to 
keep abreast of the general educational move- 
ment, both in her scholarship and so far as pos- 
sible in the number of her courses. Without 
entering into financial details, it may be possible 
by recounting some of the early experiences and 
struggles to give a fair impression of the condi- 
tions which prevailed during those first years. 

It must be remembered that within four years 
of the opening of the College the giving up of 
the first location not only cut off practically all 
the original subscriptions on which the College re- 
lied, save some real estate at the time unsalable, 
but also entailed the repayment of subscriptions 
already used in building the foundations which 
had been abandoned. Even the Claremont prop- 
erty, except Claremont Hall, was wholly in real 
estate, for the salable part of which there was 
then no call. The only available resources were 
the tuition fees, not one-half enough to pay ex- 
penses, and the small contributions from an im- 
poverished constituency. Moreover, the financial 
depression was appalling. Added to these dis- 
couragements, the confidence that had at first an- 
ticipated large results from President Baldwin's 
electrical projects began to fail, and disaster 
was freely predicted. Happily the two con- 
tracts in favor of the College, one for fifty thou- 

[385] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

sand dollars to be applied to endowment and one 
for twenty-five thousand dollars for a new hall, 
came to hand about this time. Their effect was 
most exhilarating on all the friends of the Col- 
lege. Faith was renewed, confidence inspired, 
hopes quickened. 

In one respect the College has been favored at 
every stage of its existence — namely, in friends 
officially connected with banks. Mr. H. A. 
Palmer's bank was the first to do the college 
business. The Dole brothers' bank followed, with 
Mr. William Dole as president, Mr. John Dole as 
cashier and Mr. C. M. Stone as assistant. These 
men all protected the college paper as if it were 
their own. Then came Mr. Charles E. Walker, 
president of the First National Bank of Pomona, 
who has been treasurer of the College for eight 
years and still holds the office, rendering inesti- 
mable service in the investment and care of the 
endowment funds. Mr. J. M. Elliott, president of 
the First National Bank of Los Angeles, and Mr. 
S. H. Herrick, president of the Citizens' National 
Bank of Riverside, also have been sympathetic 
and helpful in many ways. 

Mention has been made in the chapter on Presi- 
dent Baldwin's administration of his magnificent 
canvass for funds during his first year with the 
College, by a plan which made every giver a 
* ^ stockholder. ' ' 

Soon after the dedication of Holmes Hall ( Jan- 

[ 386 ] 



CRISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

uary 1, 1893), the Board of Trustees, compelled 
to provide financial relief at once, adopted the 
plan suggested by Judge Harwood of an ^^ Abso- 
lute Guarantee Fund/' This fund was to be 
made up of fifty subscriptions of one hundred dol- 
lars a year for five years, and thus provided for 
^ve thousand dollars a year, and twenty-five thou- 
sand dollars in the ^ve years ; the payment was to 
be conditioned on the securing of the subscrip- 
tions each year, on the maintaining of the full 
number of subscribers, and on the paying of the 
last bills in the year's accounts. After several 
months had passed without one subscription, at 
the request of the Executive Committee, followed 
by the action of the Board of Trustees, the secre- 
tary very reluctantly and almost or quite as a last 
resort, gave himself to a canvass for funds. 
Yielding to the supreme necessity, as felt by the 
Board of Trustees and many friends, he appealed 
to officers and faculty, although many of them 
were already overburdened. The response was 
a beautiful tribute to their loyalty to Pomona. 

This leverage insured the success of the effort. 
The fund was duly raised, and both its attainment 
and its use gave much needed encouragement and 
added greatly to the College credit. It was 
thereby made unmistakable that many friends 
-were profoundly interested in Pomona and heart- 
ily committed to her well-being. This attainment 
was a fine preliminary to the establishment of an 

[387] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

endowment fund, to wMcli all were conj&dently 
looking forward. 

Mrs. FiekVs contract, referred to in an earlier 
chapter, to give the College ^ve thousand dollars 
a year for ten years, required the raising of an 
equal amount on the part of the College by Jan- 
uary 26, 1894. Disappointed in certain large 
amounts on which the trustees had relied, it be- 
came necessary, in spite of the continued business 
depression, to take up this new canvass very soon 
after securing the Absolute Guarantee Fund. It 
seemed absolutely impossible, so soon following 
those strenuous efforts to secure the sum needed, 
and yet it was highly important if the respect 
and confidence of Eastern friends was to be 
preserved. 

Everything gave place to this necessity. Presi- 
dent Baldwin, fully confident of the value of his 
electric power, sought and obtained his father's 
aid by means of a note for twenty thousand dol- 
lars, at six per cent, interest, secured by this stock 
in his project. The Congregational Education 
Society gave fifteen thousand dollars. Professor 
Norton raised some money from his friends. Pro- 
fessor Colcord went East and got help from his 
early home and from classmates. Professor 
Sumner canvassed both West and East. In one 
way and another the result showed in what the 
trustees temied ''valid subscriptions ''—money, 
notes and land, the latter guaranteed, principal 

[388] 



CRISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

and interest — for the full amount and six hun- 
dred and fifty dollars additional. 

It was the best that could be done. To get the 
whole amount in money was impossible. Not only 
the benevolence but also the credit of many of the 
friends of the College was taxed severely. But all 
was done most willingly and most cheerfully. The 
subscription was rejected on technical grounds, 
and the contract withdrawn by the executors of 
Mrs. Field's estate. In view of the legal compli- 
cations involved, and the recognized hostility of 
the courts to the claims of benevolence against 
estates, the matter was pressed no further than 
by a full and careful statement of the facts, with 
copies of letters received from Mrs. Field in past 
years, especially immediately before and after 
the contract had been rewritten and re-signed at 
the home of her daughter. 

In the place of this contract for fifty thousand 
dollars, however, the following year a new con- 
tract was given by the executors of the estate, pro- 
posing to pay to the College twenty-five thousand 
dollars provided the College would raise seventy- 
five thousand for endo^vment, thus establishing 
an endowment fund of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars. In this contract was a provision for the 
investment of the funds which proved to be seri- 
ous. The time limit was January 15, 1897, and 
the money was to be paid within three years. 

The canvass for this seventy-five thousand dol- 

[389] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

lars was taken up as soon as it was deemed wise, 
in the autumn of 1896. A plan of canvass devised 
and presented to the Board by the secretary was 
adopted. All subscriptions were taken in the 
form of legal notes bearing seven per cent, inter- 
est, to be paid within the specified time. The can- 
vass was made with vigor and enthusiasm. A 
notable feature of it was the gift of fifteen thou- 
sand dollars from the members of the Board of 
Trustees and the faculty. Others were the sub- 
scription of twenty thousand dollars by Dr. Pear- 
sons and the gift of ten thousand dollars by Mrs. 
Locke, through President Baldwin. Twenty thou- 
sand dollars was added by the sale of the stock in 
the San Antonio Light and Power Co. held by 
President Baldwin, and the application of the 
note to the fund. 

A great many interesting and suggestive inci- 
dents were connected with this campaign, show- 
ing love and willingness to sacrifice for Pomona. 
One of the largest local subscriptions is known to 
have been borrowed, because of the exigency of 
the College, and carried by note until it amounted 
to nearly or quite twice the sum given. The same 
spirit was widespread, and very likely there were 
other similar cases. One hundred and nineteen 
names were on the list. 

This canvass greatly strengthened the College. 
Money was collected, or its equivalent, to the full 
amount, deposited in the bank, and vouched for 

[390] 



CRISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

by the officers of the bank. No objections were 
raised by the executors to the list submitted ; but 
they required that not only the twenty-five thou- 
sand dollars to be given by the estate, but the 
whole one hundred thousand dollars, be kept in 
an Eastern trust company at a rate of interest so 
low, and for so long a time, that it would be to the 
advantage of the College to accept fifteen thou- 
sand dollars, which was offered by the executors, 
without condition, rather than the twenty-five 
thousand with the required provision. The Board 
of Trustees therefore surrendered the contract 
in consideration of fifteen thousand dollars. This, 
however, resulted in a grand addition of ninety 
thousand dollars to the endowment fund, and af- 
forded great satisfaction to the friends of the 
College. 

A critical situation which caused much uneasi- 
ness came to a head about the time of President 
Baldwin's final resignation. The College was 
owing twenty-two thousand dollars in college 
notes signed by certain members of the Executive 
Committee. Mr. Blanchard's name was on eight- 
een thousand dollars' worth of paper in the form 
of small notes. This was a time of extreme finan- 
cial stringency, not only in Southern California 
but also all over the country. Most or all of these 
notes were overdue, and it was practically impos- 
sible to pay any of them. It must be remembered 
that endowment funds could not be used for that 

[391] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

purpose. The holders of one or two notes were 
insistent on payment, and threatened suit. Mr. 
Blanchard was troubled, and offered to give three 
thousand dollars if his name could be removed 
from all notes. 

Mr. Sumner was still financial secretary, and 
with the approval of the Executive Committee he 
undertook to secure the release of personal obli- 
gation on all college notes. Having gained Mr. 
Blanchard 's consent to pay his pledge in install- 
ments — one thousand dollars upon the release of 
each six thousand dollars ' worth of notes bearing 
his endorsement — Mr. Sumner borrowed one 
thousand dollars at the bank on his own name, and 
with it paid off one endorsed note for that amount 
which absolutely required payment. He then se- 
cured the exchange of five thousand dollars' 
worth of personally endorsed paper held by his 
personal friends, for simple corporation notes, 
and was thus enabled to send Mr. Blanchard can- 
celed notes endorsed by him amounting to six 
thousand dollars. Mr. Blanchard ^s check for one 
thousand dollars came by return mail. By re- 
peating the process, with this leverage, finally 
every endorsed note was exchanged for a corpora- 
tion note, and the college credit was established. 
At the same time the rate of interest had been 
reduced from seven and eight per cent, to a uni- 
form six per cent., all without cost to the College, 
and with the three thousand dollars added to its 

[392] 



CRISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

funds. The sense of safety and relief by reason 
of this accomplishment was great indeed. The 
Board of Trustees gave a vote of thanks to Mr. 
Sumner for this work. 

An effort was made early in President Fergu- 
son's administration to pay off the accumulated 
indebtedness, and with a measure of success ; but 
the value of the lots held for sale outside of the 
campus was made to offset a part of the debt, and 
subsequent deficits up to the beginning of the 
year 1902, added to this obligation, had caused the 
actual debt to grow until it amounted to sixty- 
seven thousand dollars. Dr. D. K. Pearsons 
agreed with President Gates to give Pomona fifty 
thousand dollars for endowment if that debt was 
paid. 

A campaign was inaugTirated for the purpose 
of canceling all indebtedness early in President 
Gates' administration, and was unique and suc- 
cessful. While reference has been made to it in 
the chapter on President Gates, it merits further 
elucidation. The plan was carefully wrought out 
and faithfully followed, although pronounced by 
some of the most experienced and successful col- 
lege presidents chimerical and doomed to failure. 
They simply did not know Pomona's constitu- 
ency. The special features of the plan involved 
a hearty committal of the representatives of the 
churches to the undertaking at the meeting of the 
General Association of Congregational Churches 

[393] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of Southern California at Ventura. An evening 
session of this gathering was devoted to an ad- 
dress by President Gates, who at that time made 
his first appearance before the Association. On 
the way to Ventura the secretary had unfolded 
the plan to Mr. Blanchard, who not only endorsed 
it, but also volunteered a donation of two thou- 
sand dollars toward the amount. 

For the following morning a resolution was 
carefully prepared, and presented with the very 
earnest appeal of the financial secretary, sup- 
ported by Dr. Warren F. Day, and by a report 
of the personal contribution of Mr. Blanchard. 
The resolution read as follows: ^^Eesolved, that 
we, representatives of the churches of this Asso- 
ciation assembled at Ventura, October 16, 1902, 
especially reaffirm the proportional responsibility 
of every church in this Association to sustain Po- 
mona College, its own child; and further, Ee- 
solved : That we, representatives of the churches, 
hereby agree together to use our best endeavors 
to have our respective churches, before January 
1, 1903, anticipate their gifts to the college for 
five years, and give their notes, due on or before 
^ve years from date, with interest on the amount 
at six per cent." Much enthusiasm was awak- 
ened, and the motion was carried unanimously 
and most heartily. 

The details of the plan were somewhat as fol- 
lows : A meeting was to be arranged of represent- 

[394] 



CRISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

atives of the College with the trustees of each 
church and such others as the trustees might in- 
vite. The matter was to be presented very fully 
before them, with all the facts desired, and a 
canvass w^as to be proposed, partly personal, and 
later public, the pastor, or one or more represent- 
atives of the College, as preferred, making an 
appeal at a Sunday morning service. Subse- 
quently the church representatives would exam- 
ine the pledges secured, w^hich were to run five 
years with interest, sum up what were considered 
good, and give to the College a church note for 
the amount, bearing interest. Thus the church 
was to assume the burden of collecting the 
pledges, and the College had good endowment 
paper at once. This was turned into money by 
the use of the endowment funds of the College, 
and the debts were paid therewith. 

The method gave ready access to the church 
in the most favorable way, and proved acceptable 
and effective wherever tried. The canvass was 
rapid and the ultimate results were highly satis- 
factory. The only drawback arose from the fact 
that it was dropped before some churches, which 
were ready for and expecting the campaign, had 
been visited. The amount received, therefore, 
covered only past indebtedness, and not the deficit 
of the current year, which was necessarily large 
on account of the absorption of current gifts in 
the canvass and because of the added expenses 

[395] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

connected with the campaign ; nor did it cover, as 
was intended, the amount offset by the value of 
lots in Claremont. This arresting of the canvass, 
entirely unnecessary, was a great surprise and 
disappointment to the secretary, who had been 
especially active in planning and carrying on the 
campaign, until he was suddenly sent East by the 
Board of Trustees on urgent business connected 
with Dr. Pearsons ' misunderstanding in the mat- 
ter of his pledge. He had supposed that the can- 
vass was going forward in his absence as planned, 
and hence permitted himself to be detained by 
openings to secure other funds in the East. 

However, it was a grand campaign. The finan- 
cial benefit gained was perhaps of less value than 
the spirit of loyalty and confidence engendered. 
The money was soon gone; the sense of unity 
between the College and the churches abides, and 
its fruitfulness will long continue. President 
Gates said of this campaign soon after its close: 
**The apparently impossible was accomplished. 
It is a pleasure to testify that in my experience of 
several years in college work I have never seen 
nor heard of such loyalty of response to an ap- 
peal to the churches constituent to a college as 
has been exhibited in the churches of South- 
ern California towards Pomona in these recent 
weeks. ' * 

In about one year from the close of this cam- 
paign it became necessary to raise forty thousand 

[ 396 ] 



CRISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

dollars for a library endowment, in order to meet 
the conditions of Mr. Carnegie ^s offer of a library 
building to cost forty thousand dollars. Coming 
so soon after the last effort of the kind, and while 
the church notes were still in part unpaid, this 
new effort seemed well-nigh hopeless. Neverthe- 
less it had to be made, and must succeed. There 
was too much at stake to be sacrificed. 

The president and secretary constituted the 
committee to raise the money. A general canvass 
was impossible. Those of the trustees on whom 
the College had learned to rely had been by far 
the largest givers in the last campaign. Where 
must the College look? The question answered 
itself. As usual, it must look to the biggest giv- 
ers. Five of the trustees gave the fund a good 
start. Then the canvass lagged, only occasional 
small sums coming in. About this time Miss 
Martha N. Hathaway proposed to Mr. Sumner to 
give to the College, on certain conditions, stocks 
then valued at sixty thousand dollars, which sub- 
sequently proved much more valuable. These con- 
ditions, after careful examination by the Board 
of Trustees, were thankfully agreed to, and the 
transaction was closed. A little later, at a second 
interview, Miss Hathaway at the suggestion of the 
secretary very kindly offered to apply ten thou- 
sand dollars of her donation to the endowment 
of the library. This revived hopes ; but still there 
was a large deficit. Then Mr. Charles M. Pratt 

[397] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

of New York gave ten thousand dollars to the 
fund, and the forty thousand dollars was 
complete. 

This achievement not only w^as an untold re- 
lief, but it inspired large hopes. Evidently the 
College was approaching a higher plane, where 
great enterprises were possible. One of the many 
pleasant features connected with the canvass was 
the permanent connection of the names of some 
of the friends of the College with different depart- 
ments of the library. 

The greatest campaign completed so far in the 
history of the College was initiated just ^Ye years 
from the date of the canvass for the church notes, 
and before the library was dedicated. The amount 
sought was two hundred thousand dollars, upon 
the securing of which Mr. Carnegie was to give 
the College fifty thousand dollars. 

The canvass was entered upon with enthusiasm. 
Dr. Pearsons and some of the members of the 
Board of Trustees, with a few others, subscribed 
considerably more than one-half the amount to be 
raised, when the canvass was checked by the ill- 
ness of the chairman. No further progress was 
made until the campaign was taken up by Presi- 
dent Blaisdell. The amount needed to complete 
the fund was eighty-five thousand dollars, to 
which he added forty-five thousand dollars to 
meet the College indebtedness. All subscriptions 
were contingent on getting the full amount, one 

[ 398 ] 



CRISES AND CAMPAIGNS 

hundred and thirty thousand dollars, within 
ninety days. 

It was an open, vigorous, personal canvass, con- 
ducted by President Blaisdell himself with whirl- 
wind speed. It was of necessity limited for the 
most part to the old college friends. With re- 
markable perspicacity the president discovered 
the friends of the dean, and the Edwin Clarence 
Norton endowment of the chair of Greek Litera- 
ture was quickly assured. Then some particular 
friends of Miss Spalding created the Phebe Es- 
telle Spalding endowment of the chair of English 
literature. In like manner various other forces 
were concentrated, each on some special object, 
in a rarely discriminating way, all contributing 
to the widespread interest and enthusiasm of the 
campaign. The result was a splendid tribute to 
the real strength of the College, and a presage 
for the days to come. 



[399] 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

PRESIDENT BLAISDELL'S 
ADMINISTRATION 

Close personal relations on the part of the 
writer with three administrations of Pomona Col- 
lege, together with four years of observation of 
the fourth, have emphasized strongly the differ- 
ence in the conditions of the College and in the 
demands made by the College on its administra- 
tion, during the several stages of its history, 
which now covers a period of more than twenty- 
five years. Dr. Baldwin did for Pomona what 
neither of his two immediate successors, what in- 
deed few, could have done. So President Fergu- 
son contributed to Pomona's solidarity that which 
it was not in the nature of President Baldwin or 
President Gates to contribute. President Gates 
gave to Pomona an uplift and a national reputa- 
tion which only one who already had a reputation 
in the east could have given; President Blaisdell 
has the task of building on the foundations al- 
ready laid the ^ ^ Greater Pomona. ' ' 

The disparity of the periods of Pomona's his- 
tory has been due in some measure to local causes. 
Lack of money, combined with the rapid growth 
of the College, has constituted a persistent and 

[ 400 ] 




President James Arnold Blaisdell 



PEESIDENT BLAISDELL 

ever-increasing difficulty to be met. Tliis diffi- 
culty has been augmented further by the heavy 
demands made by the constituency as to the class 
of work to be done. But perhaps of more impor- 
tance than all local conditions is the great tidal 
wave of development and change along the lines 
of higher education, apparently just now reaching 
its culmination, which has been forcing the Col- 
lege forward. New methods, new theories, new 
policies have had to be discussed, tried, in some 
cases rejected, in some adopted. Standards for 
entrance and standards for continuance in college 
have been raised, courses of study have been mul- 
tiplied; optional work has been recognized in- 
creasingly ; polytechnic credits have pushed their 
claim ; the fine arts have appealed more and more 
strongly ; the library and museum have come into 
fuller demand ; the high schools have crowded the 
College at the beginning, and professional train- 
ing at the end of the course. 

Some of the many results of this nation-wide 
movement have begun to be conspicuous. For a 
given number of students at least twice, in some 
cases three times, the number of teachers for- 
merly required has become necessary. Instead 
of laboratories for one or two departments, labo- 
ratories are essential for many departments. 
Seminars, with their literature, little in use when 
Pomona was founded, must be provided for 
nearly every department. All the changes tried, 

[ 401 ] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

not to say adopted, require money, as well as time 
and thought. 

The office of the college president has under- 
gone a great change. Instead of looking exclu- 
sively for an educator with administrative ability, 
colleges must regard financial ability as an essen- 
tial qualification. It is hardly a question whether 
the man absorbed in scholarly pursuits, the ideal 
president fifty or even twenty-five years ago, 
would be the most successful president today. 
Compare the well-nigh ideal administration of 
President Hadley with that, no less ideal at the 
time, of the scholarly and beloved President 
Woolsey. Would that superb teacher, in many 
respects the foremost college president of the last 
half of the nineteenth century, Mark Hopkins, feel 
at home in a position in which teaching is rele- 
gated to a secondary importance, if not practi- 
cally inhibited? 

Great as was the disparity of the three earlier 
administrations, which we have passed in review, 
a still greater difference of conditions awaited 
the successor of President Gates. To the un- 
solved problems new problems were added. A 
new vision had superseded the old. The narrow 
campus and the restricted ideal had given place to 
the enlarged campus and the expanded ideal. 
*^The Greater Pomona'' was the slogan. The 
friends of the College were thrilled with the con- 
ception. They felt the changed conditions, the 

[402] 



PRESIDENT BLAISDELL 

larger demands, and were intent on meeting tliem. 
The administration of President Gates in part 
began to apprehend the situation, and made an 
effort to rise to it, but the physical endurance of 
its leader was insufficient, and his presidency 
ended with the task incomplete. The new admin- 
istration had to enter upon this new era, and as- 
sume at once the difficult part of completing the 
work left unfinished by its predecessor. 

Realizing in some measure these changed con- 
ditions and requirements, the Board of Trustees 
commissioned the secretary, with an unprece- 
dented liberty in the salary to be offered, to go 
forth in quest of a president. He went first into 
the extreme Northwest; then to the Atlantic sea- 
board, and thence back to the Middle West, to 
learn about men who had been brought to his at- 
tention. Finally, with others. Professor Blais- 
delPs name was placed before the Board of 
Trustees. His inheritance, his natural gifts, his 
education and his experience seemed to have set 
him out separate from the other candidates pre- 
sented, and to have fitted him especially for the 
position. Sprung from an ancestry born and ed- 
ucated in New England, the son of one of the 
foremost educators in the Middle West, he 
had studied and graduated at Beloit College and 
Hartford Theological Seminary. Later he had 
been pastor at Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Olivet, 
Michigan, and professor at his alma mater, where 

[403] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

pulpit work and the ofiice of librarian were 
combined with his professorship. At this time he 
was just ready for a sabbatical year of for- 
eign study and travel. He appealed strongly 
to the Board, and was invited to visit the 
College. 

He came, spoke to the student body, looked the 
field over, met with the Board of Trustees, and 
ultimately accepted the presidency to which he 
had been elected. Beloit that year conferred upon 
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Likewise 
the junior class annual of his alma mater, the 
* ^ Codex '^ of that year, was dedicated to him, an 
elegantly bound copy was given to him, and one 
sent to the Pomona College library. In this vol- 
ume is an appreciation of President Blaisdell 
written by Professor Chapin of Beloit, whose 
father was for many years president of the 
college. 

President Blaisdell took up the work in Febru- 
ary, 1910. His previous visit had prepared the 
way for a hearty reception. 

One of his first acts was to give new emphasis 
to the matriculation of the freshman class. His 
address on the occasion gave great satisfaction. 
After a short time given to acquaintance and in- 
side work, he made a very careful study of outside 
conditions in all Southern California, and to 
some extent in the northern part of the State. Ee- 
turning home, he announced his purpose to take 

[404] 



PEESIDENT BLAISDELL 

up and prosecute tlie suspended canvass for the 
Carnegie fund. It was surprising how easily and 
naturally he rallied his forces and set the wheels 
in motion. A prominent feature was his cam- 
paign literature. It appeared from time to time, 
just meeting the exigency — ^brief, attractive, effi- 
cient. Interest grew rapidly into enthusiasm, and 
soon became far-reaching. At frequent meetings 
with his various committees he directed and in- 
spired their efforts. The student body was taken 
into counsel. All, intent on one purpose, were 
dra.wn into close sympathy and fellowship, and 
the end of the campaign discovered renewed loy- 
alty and devotion on all sides. The number of 
men and women brought into close relations with 
one another, with the president and with the Col- 
lege, was quite remarkable. Thus what at the 
outset seemed a calamity — the beginning of his 
administration with a financial campaign — in his 
hands proved an opportunity not only for a finan- 
cial success, but also for a moral uplift. 

As soon as conditions would permit, the pledges 
were tabulated, vouched for by the trustees, in- 
cluding several bank officers, and forwarded to 
Mr. Carnegie. They were immediately returned 
by his secretary with the affirmation that unse- 
cured notes would not meet the requirement. 
This compelled the accumulation of one hundred 
and fifty thousand doUars practically in cash, and 
the securing of paper that was as good as govern^ 

[405-] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

ment bonds. Besides this, current expenses, made 
doubly heavy by delay through these changes, 
must be provided for. The general demand for 
money was unusually pressing. Friends, how- 
ever, made the matter personal, and the requisite 
funds were secured. 

While these disturbing matters were being ad- 
justed, the president gave particular attention to 
the student body and to college problems. An- 
other characteristic type of bulletins and leaflets 
began to appear, spreading information and giv- 
ing new incentive and new inspiration in one di- 
rection and another. The College Band came 
into being this year, and fully justified itself. The 
alumni appointed a large advisory committee 
with whom the president might consult from time 
to time. 

At his own request, the inauguration of the 
president had been deferred until after the com- 
pletion of the campaign. The time finally fixed 
for it was the 20th and 21st of the following Jan- 
uary. About forty institutions were represented 
at the exercises, together with neighboring school 
superintendents and high school faculties. The 
exercises were preceded by an early dinner at the 
Claremont Inn, in honor of the three presidents 
on the program. A general invitation to this din* 
ner had been given, through the different univer- 
sity and college clubs, to all graduates of colleges 
and universities. Two hundred and fifty sat 

[406] 



PEESIDENT BLAISDELL 

down at the tables. This was an occasion of good- 
fellowship and much enthusiasm. 

At eight o'clock all repaired to the Church, 
Avhere a large and appreciative audience listened 
first to an address by President Edward D. 
Eaton, D.D., LL.D., of Beloit College, on *^The 
Historic Service of the American College. ' * The 
second adress was delivered by President Harry 
A. Garfield, LL.D., of Williams College, who 
spoke on *^ The Place of the College in the Educa- 
tional System of the Future. ' ' Both were rich in 
thought, in scope and in suggestion. 

The next day at ten-thirty the academic proces- 
sion was formed, and marched from the College 
to the Church, where the ceremonies of inaugura- 
tion took place. Bishop Johnson read from the 
Scriptures Psalm 127. The college choir sang 
^^Hail, Bright Abode,'' from Tannhauser, after 
which Dr. Kingman offered the invocation, which 
was followed by the hymn, * * God of the Prophets, 
Bless the Prophets' Sons." The induction was 
by Mr. George W. Marston, president of the 
Board of Trustees, and the acceptance by the 
president of the College. The college choir sang 
the ^^Sanctus" from the Saint Cecilia Mass. This 
was followed by the president's address, the 
theme of which was **The Culture of Loyalty in 
College Life." It was listened to with peculiar 
interest, many passages being received with 
marked favor, and as a whole elicited strong and 

[407] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

hearty commendation. After singing the h^Tim 
''God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand/' 
greetings were received from educational institu- 
tions, voiced by President Eaton. Dean Norton 
then presented Rev. Charles Burt Sumner, upon 
whom was conferred the degree of Doctor of 
Laws, **for his notable work as a builder of civ- 
ilization.'' The exercises closed with the bene- 
diction by the president. 

The delegates from educational institutions and 
others were entertained at luncheon, after which 
all returned to the Church for the formal recogni- 
tion of college guests. Rev. J. H. Williams, D.D., 
of Redlands, presided. The College Glee Club 
provided the music. Among the special features 
of the occasion were a cordial letter of congratula- 
tions from President Gates, and the address of 
President Lasuka Harada of Doshisha College, 
Kyoto, Japan. Another pleasant event was the 
presentation by President Baer of a Pomona- 
Occidental pennant, with a characteristic address. 

The president's reception was held at the Li- 
brary. In the evening the Choral Union rendered 
Handel's ^* Messiah." 

During this year also, under the more favor- 
able conditions, the president, in his own charac- 
teristic way, used every means in his power 
consistent with the pressure upon him to come 
into close personal relations with the students. At 
the same time he made a very thorough study of 

[ 408 ] 



PRESIDENT BLAISDELL 

the College in detail, taking' up its history and 
methods, both internal and external, and so far 
as possible its resources, present and prospective. 
A revision of the curriculum was made, including 
some changes which had long been under consid- 
eration by the faculty, and the annual catalogue 
of that year received much commendation. 

The next year opened with an increase of 
twenty per cent, in the student body. This in- 
crease nearly made good the loss in numbers occa- 
sioned by the dropping of the Preparatory De- 
partment, and gave an enlarged conception of the 
college constituency. After very careful study 
and discussion on the part of the faculty and the 
Board of Trustees, it was decided to make a large 
advance in the teaching force the following year. 
The president spent some months in the east, ex- 
tending his acquaintance with educational insti- 
tutions and securing new teachers. This addition 
to Pomona's faculty, ^Hhe longest step forward 
in its educational history,'' made possible courses 
in journalism, public address, constitutional his- 
tory and law, geology, philosophy, the Eomance 
languages and physiology. 

Notwithstanding the adverse conditions in 
Southern California the following year by rea- 
son of the frost, the student body fully held 
its own in point of numbers, and the new 
teachers gave an added impulse to the college 
life. 

[409] 



STORY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

An event of this year worthy of mention, called 
by ''The Student Life'' ''a splendid piece of 
work," was an undertaking by the class of 1915. 
This was the construction high up on the moun- 
tain-side, of ''a 'P' two hundred and thirty feet 
long, one hundred and fifty-six feet wide, with the 
lanes thirty-three feet across." A bronze tablet 
was placed beside it, with a box in which were 
enclosed copies of ''The Student Life," the "Col- 
lege Bulletin," a list of the men who did the work, 
and the statement that the structure is dedicated 
to the Associated Students, with the expectation 
that each succeeding freshman class shall help 
line the "P" with white rock. Summer and win- 
ter this "P" stands out, plainly visible over the 
whole valley, a little more conspicuous when the 
snowy covering or the white rock increasing year 
by year brings it into fuller relief against the dark 
background of chaparral. 

Early in the autumn the twenty-fifth anniver- 
sary of the incorporation of the College was ob- 
served in a happy and effective manner. In place 
of "Founders' Day," established by President 
Blaisdell, a "Home Gathering" was planned in 
honor of the event, and the invitation issued met 
with a cordial response. A large number of the 
alumni, including some from nearly every class, 
with many of the earlier and later friends, came 
together and remained for two days, Sunday and 
Monday, October 13 and 14. The papers read 

[410] 



PEESIDENT BLAISDELL 

and some of the unwritten addresses have been 
printed, and need not be reproduced here. In- 
deed, written reports could not give an adequate 
impression of the growing interest and the spon- 
taneous enthusiasm which were manifest in the 
progress of the meetings. 

For instance, the * ^ Hour of Prayer ' ' on Sunday 
afternoon, coming after the morning sermon, was 
conceived most happily and carried out delight- 
fully. It was so in accord with the spirit of the 
institution, and the atmosphere was surcharged 
so obviously with spiritual influence, that the mo- 
ments, all too brief, were a veritable divine ben- 
ediction. Much personal experience, history and 
aspiration were revealed in teachers, alumni and 
others by thanksgivings and supplications, both 
of a subjective and an objective nature, all show- 
ing how fully the College had entered into heart 
and life, past and present. 

Then with Sunday's background and gathered 
force, from day and evening services, came on 
Monday morning the historical survey, with its 
incidents and pictures, which touched every heart. 
In the afternoon was portrayed Pomona's unique 
place in the religious and educational life of 
Southern California, with the obligations she her- 
self has created, and her unfailing idealism. This 
portrayal led up to a clear, definite statement of 
the present needs of the College — needs which 
must be met if she is to fulfill these obligations, 

[411] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

maintain this idealism, and satisfy the demands 
of her constituency. President BlaisdelPs ad- 
dress, which followed, was especially forceful. 
Every one was ready for the resolution, offered 
spontaneously by Mr. Goff, ^Hhat we heartily ap- 
prove right here and now of a campaign to raise 
a million of dollars for Pomona College, and that 
we promise to stand by President Blaisdell when 
he sees fit to inaugurate such a campaign." The 
resolution was received with enthusiasm, and car- 
ried unanimously by a rising vote. 

This high enthusiasm was carried into the eve- 
ning. Pomona's progressive and expansive his- 
tory as the ground and prophecy of her future, 
together with her possibilities here at home and 
her mighty responsibilities for lands beyond 
the seas, were vividly portrayed; while as a co- 
worker with God the better and larger Pomona 
was anticipated with supreme confidence, since 

"The forward marcli of progress beats 
To that great anthem, calm and slow, 
Which God repeats." 

The president of the Board of Trustees, Mr. 
Marston, spoke of the wonderful achievements of 
the past, welcomed the new opportunities, and ex- 
pressed confidence that, trusting in that Higher 
Power which shapes our ends, the days to come 
would be great days, far transcending the history 
which had been so fittingly celebrated. 

[412] 



PRESIDENT BLAISDELL 

The representative of the constituency of the 
College, Dr. Fox, was the final speaker. He 
brought a new and fresh supply of congratula- 
tions, with assurances of sweet memories of the 
past, pride and joy in the present, and bright 
hopes and glorious prospects for the future of 
Pomona. ^'We love her,^' he said in part, in con- 
cluding, "for her founders. We love her for the 
sacrifices she has made. . . . We love her for her 
high standard of scholarship. . . . We love her 
for her loyalty to the Christian religion. . . . We 
love her for her motto. We love her for her trus- 
tees. We love her for her faculty. . . . We love 
her because at this silver jubilee she has a presi- 
dent in whose life her educational ideals find fit 
expression, and in whose spirit the secret of Po- 
mona's greatness is disclosed. Surely James Ar- 
nold Blaisdell came to the kingdom for such a 
time as this." 

The occasion was unique, and one of extraordi- 
nary and cumulative interest from beginning to 
end. The old friends reveled in the past, rejoiced 
in the present, and were inspired with great hopes 
for the future. 

Not long after this fruitful gathering. Dr. But- 
terick, secretary of the General Education Board 
at New York, appeared in Claremont, sent out by 
his board of trustees, he said, "to look up Po- 
mona.'' On his way to Southern California he 
had visited the universities on the Pacific Coast, 

[413] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

where lie had received favorable reports of Po- 
mona's standing, and before he left he expressed 
himself as pleased with all he had heard and 
seen. 

President Blaisdell went East in the early 
spring to secure teachers, and to urge Pomona's 
claim to a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa society. 
While engaged in this mission he received a num- 
ber of valuable testimonials as to Pomona's 
standing among educators which were gratifying 
to the teachers and officers of the College. 

The delightful ^^Home Gathering" in October, 
in observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
the founding of the College, instead of satisfying 
the general desire to give special emphasis to this 
occasion, rather made insistent the demand for a 
celebration of a more popular nature, at the 
Twenty-fifth Commencement. A number of 
events were felt to mark this as not alone the rec- 
ognition of past achievement, but equally the be- 
ginning of a new era of advancement. 

The relations of the community and the College 
had been so intimate from the beginning, and 
their interests were so inseparable, that a joint 
celebration was most natural. Both parties cor- 
dially adopted the idea. The historical pageant, 
becoming so common at the East, was at once sug- 
gested. The suggestion was enforced by the pecu- 
liar richness of the field for pageantry. Several 
strong Spanish-Mexican families are living in the 

[ 414 ] 



PRESIDENT BLAISDELL 

valley. Within an arrow 's flight of the spot where 
the pageant was to be witnessed there had been 
quite recently an Indian encampment. Nearer 
still, in digging for the foundations of a college 
building, an Indian irrigation ditch had been 
found several feet below the surface. In fact, 
three distinct civilizations had held dominion over 
these very grounds within the memory of those 
stiU alive — namely, the Indian, the Spanish-Mexi- 
can and the American. Indians at peace and at 
war, Spanish-Mexican rural life and festivities, 
and Yankee enterprise and interest in education 
were fitting and attractive subjects for represen- 
tation on the stage. 

Professors Brackett and Frampton, with sug- 
gestions from others, drew up the general plan, 
which was worked out in detail by committees 
embracing a hundred persons. Between four and 
five hundred were in the various casts. Coopera- 
tion was sought from near and from far, and 
neither pains nor money was spared in securing 
accuracy and efficiency in representation. The 
Southern California Edison Company was ex- 
ceedingly successful in securing electric light ef- 
fects. The Donatelli Italian Band, the Pomona 
College music department, and Ellen Beach Yaw 
left nothing to be desired in effective music. Not 
alone the dancing, but every part of every scene 
was drilled to perfection. Perhaps most impor- 
tant of all, the Greek theater, with its very large 

[415] 



STOEY OF POMONA COLLEGE 

stage, and background of live-oaks, was ideal for 
the occasion. 

The pageant was put on in two parts, the In- 
dian and Spanish-Mexican scenes in the after- 
noon, and the American and College scenes in the 
evening. In the minds of all who witnessed it, the 
pageant was a really great event in the history of 
the College. Its features are carefully preserved 
in the publications of the time. 

In conference with the Board of Trustees in 
the winter of 1912-13, the president read a form 
of application to the General Education Board of 
New York for aid. It was approved, and he was 
requested to present it personally to the Board. 
The favorable reception of this application and 
the grant of one hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars toward a fund of a million dollars were very 
gratifying. The Board of Trustees thankfully ac- 
cepted the conditions and provided for the prose- 
cution of the canvass. 

In announcing the opening of a campaign for a 
million dollars, before a gathering in the stu- 
dents' dining-room early in the fall term. Presi- 
dent Blaisdell stated that he already had in 
pledges two hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
toward the total amount to be raised by the Col- 
lege. Of this sum &ve thousand dollars was for a 
laboratory at Laguna Beach, ten thousand was 
for the first section of an art hall, and one hnn* 

[ 416 J 



PRESIDENT BLAISDELL 

dred thousand was for a music hall to contain an 
auditorium seating eight hundred and fifty per- 
sons, with a fine organ and rooms for teaching and 
for practice. 



[417] 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS « 



028 356 959 1 



